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Third roll nactation woes with 44

Posted By: Nack Ballard
Date: Thursday, 8 April 2010, at 3:12 a.m.

In Response To: Third roll nactation woes with 44 (storm)

Here is a useful axiom:

When a letter suggests that parts of the play are made in both the near and far sides of the board, you can consider the entire far side to be an extension of the back quadrant.

Exception: S (or Z). For distinction purposes, it is better to keep the far side half of the move within the restricted "back quadrant" (which in Nactation is from the 25pt to the 18pt). When all or part of the far-side half of the move is in the outer board, use B.

Hence, in your first example:

White to play 44 64S-62H-44

White played 44B 157 64S-62H-44B

Here, White's Bar/21 18/14 13/9*(2) moves half of the play on her far side (consider it all one big quadrant) and the other half of the move in her outer board. Without any assumptions, this move (after-position shown in the right-hand diagram) is definitely, unambigously, B.

[Bar/21 24/20 13/9*(2) would be b.]

Now, your second example:

White to play 44 32D-32Z-44

White played 44Y 153 32D-32Z-44Y

Here, 24/20(2) 11/7/3* is played, as shown in the after-position of the right-hand diagram. This is a Yoga split play.

The nice young lady is doing a Yoga split for us. Her two arms (representing two checkers) point to the far side, and her legs are split between the (near-side) outer board and inner board, indicating one destination (or sub-destination) point in each. You might also remember that her stance looks like an upside down Y.

So, you can clearly use a letter in the Y family. Which?

I would simply use capital Y and assume the reader can find the clearly best Y play. What other Y-type play would a decent player (let alone a DK-vs-World player) make?

[If you cannot stand assumptions under any circumstances, or you feel that a play is not obvious enough to warrant assumption, strict rules are available. First, the far-side point takes precedence (which 24/20(2) honors). Then the near-side point if one can be covered (here, no). Then closest to 6pt: so Y = 24/20(2) 10/6 11/7, y = 24/20(2) 10/6 13/9, Y = 24/20(2) 13/9/5, y = 24/20(2) 11/7 8/4, Y = 24/20(2) 11/7 6/2, y = 24/20(2) 8/4 13/9, and Y = 24/20(2) 11/7/3*.

In other words, Y is the strict usage answer. Does that mean one should one throw one's hands in the air and say "Nactation is too hard"? Actually, no. It is a complex doublet (one that is played in more than two different quadrants), and one that is unusually prolific, that has been isolated here; moreover, the nactator must have chosen to abandon reasonable assumptions in order to resort to underlined italic usage.

You rarely have to use anything other than straightforward capital and lower case. If the move looks like a Y, more than likely you can just use Y! If that's still too hard, as the nactator you can use more than one letter-symbol or fall back on trad notation for just the few plays involving complex doublets or whatever else you haven't yet learned.]

Cheers,

Nack

Messages In This Thread

• Third roll nactation woes with 44
  storm -- Wednesday, 7 April 2010, at 6:23 p.m.
  • Third roll nactation woes with 44
    Ian Shaw -- Wednesday, 7 April 2010, at 6:38 p.m.
    • Third roll nactation woes with 44
      storm -- Wednesday, 7 April 2010, at 6:45 p.m.
      • Third roll nactation woes with 44
        Chase -- Wednesday, 7 April 2010, at 7:24 p.m.
  • Third roll nactation woes with 44
    Nack Ballard -- Thursday, 8 April 2010, at 3:12 a.m.
    • Third roll nactation woes with 44
      storm -- Thursday, 8 April 2010, at 9:09 p.m.