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BGonline.org Forums
Teaching young dogs new nactation tricks
Posted By: Matt Ryder
Date: Friday, 4 February 2011, at 3:54 p.m.
It's a common refrain that nactation with its complex web of mysterious glyphs acts as an impediment to newcomers. Here are some typical opinions (recently expressed on bgonline):
"I realize Nactation is more economical, however, it does not feel very intuitive (this of course may just be a case of an old dog learning a new trick)."
"It's a barrier to entry. I can almost guarantee you that most beginner/intermediate types are going to see all the S, $, D, B, C, U, blah blah blah and wonder what that nonsense is, and will think that it's too hard to understand. It serves to stilt growth amongst the very group of people who need to understand more."
"however, the codification is overwhelming to the newer players and at some point this becomes an anti-growth movement. the neos are going to pick up a book, or read a website that they struggle to understand. and if the neos give up on the game --- it has no future."
While Stick and others have eloquently championed nactation as a tool for expert players, I think the general suspicion still lingers that beginners shouldn't be exposed to the intricacies of the system lest they become hopelessly overwhelmed. Apparently even brief exposure to nactation can so discourage and bewilder a newbie that he scampers off to the safety of the nearest poker table - never to return.
I say this is hogwash. To the contrary, I believe newcomers should be taught nactation before traditional notation.
Learning nactation early has the following benefits:
1. It highlights key concepts for backgammon success.
Each of the "basic" nactation symbols suggest important lessons that newcomers can latch onto immediately. For example:
* R = "Backgammon is fundamentally a race!"
* P = "Impeding the opponent's escape from your home with strategic blockades helps you to win!"
* S = "A balance of offense and defense is crucial! Remember to work both sides of the board!"
* $ = "Fight for key points in the early game while the risk is still low!"
If only I had been exposed to these concepts early on! It took me years of blundering around before I started to understand the benefits of slotting. Had I only known that experts considered the $ a 'basic' symbol I might've saved myself years of hopelessly deluded conservatism.
2. It trains newbies in the geometry of the board
Newcomers don't start out knowing the pip numbers. They just see the quadrants. If you told a newbie to move a 63 24/15 he'd stare at you blankly. But if you told him to Run a back checker nine spaces to the far outer quadrant, he could figure it out. Like practicing tennis strokes over and over, I'd argue that nactation develops a new backgammoner's nascent ability to envisage checker movements. (When I think of a D, I now see in my mind's eye two XG arrows pointing down from the midpoint.)
3. It priotises objectives over destinations
Backgammon success doesn't hinge on moving your checkers around the board as fast as possible. Rather it's about securing key objectives.
With nactation, exact destinations aren't important -- it's the actions and underlying concepts that are highlighted.
4. It categorises related opening move principles for easy study
I would argue there's really no better way to understand (and memorise) the opening moves than by studying nactation symbol groups.
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The pervasive assumption that newcomers will shrink from nactation as from some dread pox seems fundamentally irrational to me. The new breed like Stick and MCG are taking to it like donkeys to water. The younger generation are mastering the game quicker than ever before, and this seems largely due to modern conceptual tools like nactation and nacbracs that help succintly codify the lessons gleaned from the bots.
Matt R.
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