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| XGID=-aBBCBB------AA-bb-b-cB-e-:1:-1:1:51:0:0:0:5:3 | |||||
| Blue to play 51 | |||||
This is not (yet) mentioned in the tutorial, but I sometimes nactate with a hyphen only after the opponent's play (so that each six-character string between the hyphens is your play followed by the opponent's play). For example, let's suppose the above position (posted by svilo) was reached by
The advantages of this format are:
- You only need type half as many hyphens (fewer than half, noting the one excluded after the cube action prior to the 14th roll).
- You can distinguish White's (the opponent's) plays such as opening 64R, from Blue's plays, at a glance.
- Counting total rolls is faster (i.e., by twos instead of one-by-one).
If this sequence occurs (say) in the fifth game, and is written as above (plus add any plays left in the game), it is easy to find as the fifth row on a page (with a "5." preceding it), and the entire match can be stored in as few rows as the number of games that occur in the match. (Long games may need a second line, which is indented.)
Beyond the first few rolls, Nactation sequences may be unnecessarily long to use as file names if the game is recorded anyway. Whatever way you like to record (traditional, Nactation, mixed, other), one idea for file naming is to use the initials of the player followed by the initials of the opponent, the number of the game in the match, the number of the roll, and the roll.
For example, if I (Nack Ballard) am playing Neil Kazaross, and the position above is arrived at in the 5th game, on the 16th roll, the file could be named
If Neil and I play more than one match, further distinction may be necessary (e.g., include a "2" for the second match, or the date if we play a large number of matches), though arguably not if 51 isn't rolled in more than one 5th game 16th roll situation. Or the score (e.g., "-5-5") can be tacked on, if that caters to one's purpose. The amount of information included in a file name depends on the needs of the individual user. That said, the roll and the hyphen preceding it ("-51") could actually be omitted.
Few players have the same first and last initials. When occasionally it does happen, it is easy enough to vary. For example, if I play Ned Kristofferson, I might call him "ne" or "nd" or "kr" or "kn" (as "nk" is already taken).
Nack