Thanks, Mike, for another well-formulated update. It is always interesting to revisit the 2009 stage of Nactation evolution.
I noticed just one typo. In your S table, the Nactation for 24/20 13/10 should be S (not Z). To clarify for anyone who might not know, Capital S and Z are in different families, each being the primary member.
Some of the explanations below will be redundant with Michael's post, but I will offer 2011 answers to Andreas' questions from 2009:
| |
|---|---|
| 63R-42P-43 | |
How would you e.g. nactate the possible moves after rolling 43 in the following position [for 63R-42P-43]:
- 1) 15/8
L... (Lift) is the stylish Nactation. It means to Lift a blot. There is only one blot and only one haven to which to lift it.
8... (8pt) is not so stylish but very clear. There is only one way to play a checker to the 8pt.
T... (sTack/Tower) actually works now, though I would avoid it, and not just because this play used to be lower-case t. Even when the special T-rule that so far I've barely mentioned online (that fewest blots overrides the 6pt convention) becomes common knowledge, T will never be as easy and quick to interpret as L or 8 is for this play.
D... (Down, third member). Using the italic (tertiary or quaternary) member of a family is rarely necessary (and obviously isn't here), but for I'll mention it (as Mike did), as it is the only "areal" option. Moving checkers closer to the 6pt is generally less desirable (sometimes markedly so) in the outer board; hence the 6pt wrinkle. Of the three D-family plays, going to the 8pt ranks lowest D, going to the 9pt + 10pt ranks in the middle (d), and going to the 10pt + 11pt ranks highest (D).
- 2) 15/11 13/10
D... (Down) is perfect. Thanks to the 6pt wrinkle, the best play is ranked first in the D family instead of third (behind the whopper-with-cheese 13/10 13/9 play).
- 3) 13/6
O (Outer) is the natural choice of character for this play if you prefer a capital letter over a numeral (as I typically do). It moves a checker into and out of the outer board and lands squarely on the 6pt. Lower-ranked members of the O family play a checker onto the 5pt or 4pt (as Mike outlined).
6... (6pt) is arguably best for its clarity. As I see it, if you're nactating for a human, there is less reason to prefer the stodgy areal letter of O over 6 for 13/6 as there is to choose the stylish L over 8 for 15/8.
t... (tower) is to be avoided for 13/6 for much the same reason that I'd avoid T for 15/8, plus it's a secondary member (only because it isn't the fewest-blots play in the family).
l... (lift) is somewhat insidious, even if one ignores the conflict that numeral 1 and lower-case L (l) so closely resemble each other in most fonts. One must first create a liftable blot (with 13/9) before lifting it to the 6pt, making it a harder move to notice for L-family qualification. If there were an enemy blot on the 9pt, you could use reasonably support capital L for 13/9*/6.
- 4) 24/20 13/10
S... (Split) actually refers to a play that moves a checker on the far side of the board and comes down from the midpoint or from the opponent's outer board. S is the only proper Nactation for this move, though if someone were to use B (Both) or Z (reverse split, oops), I would assume he must mean 24/20 13/10.
- 5) 15/11 8/5
$... (Slot) is a good, stylish choice of character. Slotwise the 5pt outranks the 4pt, and the 6pt convention breaks the (unusual tie) between 13/11 and 13/9 for the down component, producing the ranking of $ (Slot) = 15/11 13/5, % (alt slot) = 13/9 8/5, and italic $ = 13/10 8/4.
lower-case "o"... (outer) is viable. 15/11 8/5 (o) outranks 13/9 8/5 (O), which in turn outranks 13/10 8/4 o, regardless of whether it is in the $ family or the O family. The fact that 13/6 (O, mentioned earlier) is the highest-ranked member (even though it is the second strongest play of that family) makes o = 15/11 8/5 a markedly inferior alternative to $, though I'd prefer $ even it were being compared to capital O.
Has there already been tried to nactate an entire game or even a match?
Even back in 2009, Stick and I (at least) had -- many many times. With some practice, Nactation is much faster than trad. You just have to dig in and give it a real try.
About a year after Andreas' post (i.e., Jan 2011, nearly a year ago), nine bgonliners (not including Stick and a couple of other heavyweights) that participated in the Nactation Study were able to interpret the Nactations, move by move, of an entire game with a success rate of over 90%. That's the only measurement I've made on that kind of scale; I'll try again after I've published the updated tutorial.
Nack