| |
BGonline.org Forums
Stoplight chart for match cube actions?
Posted By: Timothy Chow
Date: Tuesday, 13 October 2009, at 3:51 a.m.
There does not seem to be a widely available collection of match cube reference positions, analogous to the Backgammon Encyclopedia. However, surely it is just a matter of time before such collections start to appear. I have an idea about this that I would like to put out there for feedback.
The idea is that a checker position could be accompanied by a "stoplight chart" indicating what the cube action for that position should be at various match scores. To explain what I mean, first let me associate a different color to each possible cube action, as follows.
TG for initial double Purple TG for redouble Blue Double, pass Green Redouble, take Yellow Initial double, take Orange No double, take Red A "stoplight chart" for a particular checker position would look a little bit like a match equity table, except that the entries would not be match equities; they would be colors, indicating what the cube action would be for that particular position at that particular score. Just to give you a feeling for what I mean, a particular position might have the following stoplight chart associated with it:
2 3 4 2 3 4 Don't take these particular color values seriously; they might not make sense, since I created this example without any position in mind. I just wanted to illustrate the idea. I've left out the row and column corresponding to post-Crawford cube actions because these aren't very interesting. And I've stopped at 4-away scores arbitrarily; of course it could be extended. The chart tells us, for example, that this position would be a double/pass at 4-away/2-away, and an initial double (but not a redouble) at 3-away/4-away.
Does this idea seem like it has any merit? I can think of a number of objections. The first one is that for many positions, a lot of the entries in the stoplight chart would be obvious and boring. Thus far from being a compact way of encoding a lot of information, it would be a waste of space. In response to this objection, I would hazard a guess that a lot of the most interesting and valuable reference positions would have complicated stoplight charts. Ultimately, experience would have to be the judge, but I would argue that there seems to be no a priori reason to rule out using stoplight charts, so why not try it out.
A second objection is that color is not a good way to encode cube actions. How am I supposed to remember what color is what? Some memorization is needed, but I think the colors I have chosen are relatively easy to remember, if you start by remembering that red means "no double." That is, if you are thinking about doubling this position, STOP. Don't double. In contrast, green means go ahead, double; in fact, it's a drop. The intermediate colors yellow and orange mean double/take. And once we have the rainbow going it is natural that blue and purple should mean too good. In practice I imagine that a lot of stoplight charts will just have red, yellow, and green.
Colors have other problems; a sizable percentage of the population is color-blind, and color printing costs extra. If these turn out to be problems, then one could abandon the colors entirely and just use letters (ND, DT, TG, etc.). However, the table format still looks like it might be handy.
Any thoughts about whether this might be a good idea?
| |
BGonline.org Forums is maintained by Stick with WebBBS 5.12.