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Nactation: match annotation study
Posted By: Golden In Response To: Nactation: match annotation study (Nack Ballard)
Date: Friday, 21 January 2011, at 5:10 a.m.
21S 24/23 13/11
41S 24/23 13/9
22m 24/22 13/11 6/4(2)
M=Mayfair Split=Make a home board point, move a checker at the back and move a checker down. Here there is a choice of back checker to move i.e. more than one possible M move. To decide which gets the capital letter, apply the hit/most points/closest to 6pt hierarchy. No hit, no point to be made, so moving the checker closest to own 6pt gets the capital. Therefore M is 23/21 and m is 24/2241P 9/5 6/5
P=Point. Could make 5pt or 9pt here. Which play gets the capital letter? Hit and most points rules do not help so we are left with the "closest to 6pt" rule. Making the 5pt thus gets the capital.33P 11/5(2)
P=Point. Could make 1pt, 2pt, 3pt, 5pt, 7pt or 10pt here. There are also up to two 3s that are not covered by the letter P. There are lots of plays that could be nactated by the P family, so which gets the capital letter? The hit/most points/closest to 6pt hierarchy would suggest that P means making the ace point, as this move hits. But Nack has stated he has used assumption in some of the nactation, so perhaps it is reasonable to assume that with players of Woolsey and Bagai's calibre, it is the 5pt that is made. Although I don't think it follows the proper nactation rules, and I'm uncomfortable doing so, I'll assume that the 5pt is the point made with 11/5 8/5.
What about the last 3? Apply hit/most points/closest to 6pt hierarchy. Hitting would mean 4/1* or 5/2*. Rule out 5/2* as it breaks the point made by the rest of the move, contravening the symbol. Reluctantly rule out 4/1* by assumption as it is clearly a crazy move. What about "most points"? 6/3, 11/8 and 13/10 are all equal on this score. So apply "closest to 6pt" rule. 13/10 ruled out. But is it the checker that starts closest to the 6pt (6/3) or the one that ends closest to the 6pt (11/8)? I don't know. Last resort assumption: Which of these looks the better play to me? 11/8. Go for that.43H 13/9 6/3*
H=hit. Hitting both would be K, so of the choice of hits, hitting the blot closest to the 6pt gets capital letter =>6/3*. Down convention applies to H symbol, so 13/9 6/3*31@ b/22* 23/22
@=anchor21L b/23 9/8
L=Lift a blot. Two possible lifting plays, b/23 24/23 and b/23 9/8. Capital letter goes to the play lifting the blot closest to own 6pt, so L is b/23 9/8 and l is b/23 24/23.52T 13/6
T=Tower=Pile 'em up. So 13/8 or 8/6 must feature (6/4 would be F). Any other move with 13/8 or 8/6 would have a different symbol e.g. N, D.21@ 24/22 23/22
@=anchor. Don't know if it means make a NEW anchor, or if it can mean move checker(s) to an already established anchor. Here, a play involving 24/23 would have another symbol, so @=24/22 23/22.53A 8/5 6/1
A = Attack = move into or within home board. Only legal 5 on this theme is 6/1. Legal 3s are 8/5, 5/2*, 4/1. By hit/most points/closest to 6pt hierarchy, 5/2* should get the capital A, followed by 8/5 and lastly 4/1. But few sane players would play 6/1 5/2*, and certainly not Woolsey or Bagai. So reluctantly assume the play made was 8/5, even though I think the nactation means 5/2*. I think 8/5 6/1 would be 53a.53R 23/15
R=Run. Only one legal running play.63R 22/13
42P 8/4 6/4
P=Point. Could make 4pt or 11 pt here. Making the 4pt gets the capital as it's closer to the 6pt.53N 13/10* 6/1
N=Near=Half of move to (or within) own outer board and half to (or within) own inner board. So move must include 13/10* or 13/8. Capital letter must go to a play that hits, so 13/10*. Then only legal 5s are 10/5 and 6/1. 6/1 results is most points so, gets the capital. 13/10* 6/131$ b/22 8/7
The 3 is forced, so only the 1 is nactated. 8/7 and 4/3* could be considered slot moves. Strictly, hit overrides most points, so 31$ might mean 4/3*. But I would nactate that H. Also (crossing into assumption territory) it's a crazy move, so the actual move is probably 8/7.52D 13/11 13/8
D=Down. Only one legal down play.11N 8/7(2) 4/3*(2) WRONG
N=Near=Half of move to (or within) own outer board and half to (or within) own inner board. Lots of possibilites here, so what gets the capital? Apply hit/most points/closest to 6pt hierarchy. Hit - we can hit so the capital N move must include 4/3*. Most points - capital N move must inclue 4/3 (again), and cannot be 8/6 or anything that breaks or lifts an inner board point. 4/3*(2) takes care of the half of the move to or within inner board, so remaining possibilities are 13/12(2), 13/11, 13/12 8/7, 8/7(2). Closest to 6 pt - 8/7(2) moves most checkers closest to the 6pt, so gets the capital. So N is 8/7(2), 4/3*(2)11P b/24 11/10 8/6 WRONG
First 1 is forced, so there are three left with which to make a point. Could make 10, 9 or 7 points. Can't hit, so most points rule applies => 11/10. Then what? Most points rule means the rest of the move is 10/9(2), 8/7(2), 8/6 or two of 24/23, 8/7 and 5/4. Use closest to 6pt rule. Again I don't know if this means the checker that starts closest to the 6pt, which would give 8/7 5/4, or the destination closest to the 6pt which would give 8/6. Or does it first apply to the symbol, here meaning make the point closest to the 6pt i.e. 8/7(2)? Resort to the assumption of which of these looks the best play to me, and go for 8/6.54D 13/9 13/8
32C 24/21 8/6
C=Cross the bar=Half the move crosses the bar into home board, the other half is played at the back (opp's home board). Only one legal C play here55I 9/4* 8/3 7/2(2) WRONG
I=In=Whole move brings checkers to inner board. With a double, it means four crossovers, so capital I includes 8/3 7/2 and not 12/7. Hit rule means 9/4*. Most points rule means that 7/2 gets the capitalCub Double
Tak Take
11F b/24 6/4 5/4 WRONG
b/24 is forced. F=Float a spare or spares. Capital F has to be 6/4, 5/4 as 9/8 would contravene most points rule and we are looking for the capital F move, and 8/7(2) would be nactated by the P family.64H 7/1* 5/1 WRONG
H=hit. Could hit with either die. Use most points rule, so 8/4 7/1* or 7/1* 5/1 gets the capital H. 5/1 moves checkers that are closest to the 6pt so that gets the capital.Fan Fan
I use the ^ symbol for a fan or partial fan, and hence would nactate this 64^.422 8/2
2=Move a checker to the 2 point. By the most points rule 8/2 gets the primary symbol.41C b/24 9/5
C=cross the bar, so 9/5.63H b/16*
Forced move.Fan Fan
Rcb Redouble
Pas Pass
As you can hopefully see from my thought processes, the main difficulty I had was figuring out the hierarchy of moves for the given symbol. In particular I got stuck on the precise meaning of the "closest to the 6 point" rule. I also disliked having to make assumptions and guesses based on what I think is a sensible move. There is no guarantee that my opinion of sensible will align with the player's. I would prefer zero-ambiguity nactation, even if it is less pretty. For example where you used 31$, I would use 317 as it quickly and unambiguously gets the reader to the move made. What I would find most helpful is a definitive list of all the symbols used, and the hierarchy rules. I am hoping that such a reference guide will feature in your tutorial update.
Having said all that, I think nactation is a brilliant innovation and I often make use of it when I record live games, especially in the opening.
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