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Naccel FAQ, written by Matt Ryder

Posted By: Nack Ballard
Date: Monday, 4 April 2011, at 11:18 p.m.

How to post Naccel-friendly diagrams to bgonline.org (FAQ)

Q:What is Naccel anyway?

A: Naccel is an ingenious backgammon pip-counting system developed by Nack Ballard. The name is designed to evoke its creator and implies "aN ACCELerated pip count".

Q:How do Naccel diagrams differ from ordinary ones?

A:Naccel is based around the geometry of the backgammon board. Its numbering assumes the traditional six-point as a base. As such, the points are labelled differently, with quadrant-specific "Super-points" highlighted. The diagrams are identical except for these pip-numbering segments.

Q:Why should I want to post Naccel diagrams?

A:Learning Naccel may well revolutionise your pip-counting abilities. In order to sharpen your skills, you may wish to share Naccel-related discoveries with others. Nack Ballard is composing a set of tutorials tailored to the specific experiences of Naccel learners on bgonline.org.

Q:But can't I simply use the 'standard' backgammon diagrams? Isn't that good enough for a discussion of Naccel?

A:Well, it's much easier to understand Naccel concepts when you're looking at Naccel numbering.

Q:Okay, so how do I post them here?

A:Stick has very kindly agreed to host the two Naccel diagram components in the images folder right here on bgonline.org

What this means is that anybody who wants to replace the standard pip numbering in their own diagrams ( and ) with Naccel equivalents can now do so with ease.

The first step is to export your positions from GNU by choosing Edit --> Copy As --> GammonLine (HTML). Then open your forum post and paste the diagram in.

A whole bunch of HTML code will appear. You can make this Naccel-compliant quite simply: just scan for the image references "n_high.gif" (near the top) and "n_low.gif" (near the bottom) and replace these with "n_naccel2_far.gif" and "n_naccel2_near.gif".

If you're counting from Blue's perspective, "n_high.gif" should be replaced by "n_naccel2_far.gif", while "n_low.gif" should be replaced by "n_naccel2_near.gif".

If on the other hand, you're counting from White's perspective, "n_high.gif" should be replaced by "n_naccel2_near.gif", while "n_low.gif" should be replaced by "n_naccel2_far.gif".

You also have the option to Naccelify or remove the (default) traditional pip-counts: In your Gnu-exported HTML diagram table, look for the lines (one near the top, the other near the bottom) with "gnubg" or "user". Here, you can either overwrite or remove the caption and/or pip-count to its right.

For example:
Traditional numbering63


2O2O7X2X3X2X1X ' ' ' ' '

 '2O2O2O3O2O ' ' ' ' ' '

139

Presto...change-o!

Naccel numbering (from Blue's perspective)


2O2O7X2X3X2X1X ' ' ' ' '

 '2O2O2O3O2O ' ' ' ' ' '


Q:How do I blank out checkers in the the bear-off tray if checkers there are irrelevant to the point I'm making in my diagram?

A:The trick is to manually edit the o_w_n.gif and o_b_n.gif tags, replacing n with 0. These images define the number of checkers in the bearoff trays for Blue and White. In general, if you change the digit in the image references of these diagrams, it will display that number of checkers in the graphic (within a range of 0-15).

Q:Can I post Naccel boards from Snowie or XG?

A:Not as yet. At this stage, only the open-source blue-and-white diagrams available via GNU have been adapted for Naccel use. But certain online board generators will also produce compliant diagrams.

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