Terao vs Cameron, 2012 Osaka Open
Game 1 (0-0)
32S-41X-21S-63P-64P-65S-53H-F-21E-53E-
C-21@-F-64O-31-F-62Z-11B-21X-65R-64S-
42d-32E-43P-63R-55a-R-P
Thanks to Storm and Mike, I didn't need to open the XG transcription. I just followed their Nactations on my board.
I assume that Terao (listed first) is the "bottom" player. When the bottom player goes first, no additional note is necessary, though if you like you can insert a + (plus sign) prior to the first roll as (bottom-first) confirmation.
When the top player goes first, insert something before the first roll. A hyphen/minus suffices, though certain additional characters work okay. For example, if Cameron had gone first: -32S... or ->32S... or -->32S... or --> 32S... or --- 32S...
I'll walk through the games, providing diagrams where my Nactation differed from Storm's (or Mike's). Here is game 1:
| 32S-41X-21S-63P-64P-65S-53H-22 | |
|---|---|
| |
Some people like to include 22 as well, either because (1) they think the reader might actually care what roll the player fanned with, or (2) so that all roll+play designations have three characters and will vertically align, row to row, in a fixed-width font.
Mike seems to be in the first category. He typed just the roll (22) and omitted the mention of the (obvious) fan. [For non-fanning forced rolls I do the same, but for fanning rolls I type F by itself to save one more character.]
Storm seems to be in the second category (always uses three characters for roll+play). Given that he uses < for enter one and > for enter both/all, I suggest for consistency he use ^ (instead of F) for fan. [Perhaps he forgot.] The advantage of these symbols (<, >, ^), other than coolness, is that the reader can more easily verify when a player is on the bar -- his interpretation of the sequence is on track. (He/you can also quickly determine from the sequence how many times a player was on the bar in any given game.)
In short, F or 22 or 22^ or 22x (where x is anything, though if you do use a third character then IMO ^ is first choice and F is second choice) or Fan or fan, are all acceptable ways to nactate this roll+play.
In a later White fan (which occurred just prior to the third diagram of this post), the three of us had a similar divergence of (acceptable) choices: I used F, Mike 66, and Storm 66F.
| ...F-21E-53 | |
|---|---|
| |
Conventions exist so that the capital letter usually represents the best backgammon play. In this case, X/x (or H/h) is an exception -- it fails to cooperate, though actually that can most often (as here) be blamed on choice of family. With that in mind, capital E works perfectly, which is why I chose it.
Storm used "H." In Nactation, you are allowed to ignore the entering part of the roll (as long as doing so does not create an ambiguity). The advantage of using H for such moves is that a complete Nactation beginner will think "Hit," whereas he might not know X means hit-and-split. OTOH, H does not describe the entire play, whereas X does. The tradeoff is a matter of preference. That said, neither (capital) H nor X is right here (as it translates to bar/22 8/3*). Either the lower-case h or x is acceptable.
I use E (Each) for bar/22 6/1*, and C (Cross) for bar/22 8/3*. (I could use h or x for the former and H or X for the latter, but due to possible reader confusion I would avoid them.) When you are unsure of a style letter, go with an areal letter: it is the more robust choice.
After White played E (Each, bar/22 6/1*) in the above diagram, Blue turned the cube. One can use "Dbl" (or "dbl," as Storm did) for Double, or more commonly "Cub" or "cub" for (initial) Cube, or the single-character "C" as Mike and I did. [I avoid "D" for Double because D/d is also used for dmp. Granted, D can only hint at ambiguity if it appears at the end of a sequence.]
It is acceptable but unnecessary to include T (or Tak or tak) for White taking the cube. If the sequence continues after C, the take is implied. OTOH, if you desire complete vertical alignment for both players in a game sequence, it is necessary to write out three characters not only for every roll+play but also for both players' cube actions (in this case, e.g., Cub-Tak or dbl-tak).
It is possible instead to type just T (or Tak). After all, if White Takes, Blue must have Cubed. This is not my preference, however. Later, if there is a Recube-Take, R is more descriptive than T. I suppose one can use T for Cube-Take and R for Recube-Take, but using C for the initial Cube and R for the Recube is more consistent.
| |
|---|---|
| ...53E-C-21@-F-64 | |
Storm's "h" misled me. The highest priority of the H family is to Hit on the Highest point. (Think of H standing for Hit and Highest.) Here, H points to 22/18*. Inserted below that is a Down convention: when possible, the other half a Hit play is played down (to/within the outer board). So, H is 22/18* 13/7. When down is exhausted, go to more-points followed by closest-to-6pt; so h = 22/18* 22/16, H = 22/18* 11/5, and h = 22/18* 8/2. It is only after using up all four ways to hit on the 18pt that you can apply the fifth member of the H family for the 3pt hit: H = 13/3*.
Again, it is better to use a nice, safe areal letter (O in this case) when you are unsure how a style letter might translate. To that end, the five members of the H family ascertained above can instead be respectively nactated Z, R, C, c, and O (noting that backgammon-wise the capitals represent the four best plays and the lower-case letter a vastly inferior play).
After Blue hit on the 3pt with O (Outer, 13/3*), White, with two checkers on the bar, rolled 31. Her play being forced, Mike and I typed just her roll. Storm chose to add the enter both/all symbol of >, which is fine. As I see it, typing 22^ or 66^ for White's fans (from earlier rolls) would be the usage most consistent with typing 31> here.
After the sequence 64O-31> hit on the 22pt (hopefully, you can visualize that far), Blue fans with 64, which I described as F, Mike as 64, and Storm as 64F. (My three-character suggestion is 64^.)
| ...64O-31-F-62Z-11B-21X-65R-64 | |
|---|---|
| |
For 22/12, while Mike and I chose S here, Storm's choice of lower-case p (point) is fine as well. If Blue did not have a blot on the 2pt, I imagine all three of us would have chosen P. In my view, a style letter is usually a superior choice when it is a capital and there is no chance of misinterpretation.
Can you use R? Strictly, no (because R is confined to the far side). However, 22/12 is the closest play that exists to being R. Moreover, a one-checker play that travels past a player's own midpoint is often still referred to in backgammon-speak as "running." Therefore, while I wouldn't use R myself here, it is difficult to fault it. If it is stated that White plays "64R" in the position above, there is no question in my mind that 22/12 is the intended move.
| |
|---|---|
| ...64S-42 | |
Mike chose the perfectly valid alternative of "h." The other half of an H-family play is played down (in the Nactation sense) when possible.
By the more-points convention, D or H is 14/12*/8, keeping the 11pt. Sorry, there is no capital-letter alternative for the slightly better play of 14/12* 11/7, but you can use numeral "7" if you prefer. That is, roll+play can be 427.
As with most games, this one was pretty easy to nactate. (The constructs and nebulous-looking doublet plays you see in bgonline posts that give rise to Nactation questions actually occur a low percentage of the time.) Out of twenty-five rolls, an expected four doublets occurred, yet the only tricky play appeared at the end:
| |
|---|---|
| ...42d-32E-43P-63R-55 | |
There are two A-family plays. 7/2 6/1(3) gets the capital A. The move actually played, 7/2(3) 6/1, keeps one fewer point and is therefore a.
After Blue played a (attack, 7/2 6/1(3)), White recubed. For this, one can use R (as I did) or Rcb or Rdb. I think of this as additional clarity that costs nothing. IMO, it is better to reserve C (Mike's usage) or Cub or dbl (Storm's usage) for an initial Cube, though I'll grant there is no ambiguity using it on a Recube.
The P (for Pass) is added at the end of the game so that the sequence is not mistaken as a problem being posed. That is, if it ended with (C or) R, one might think that the reader is being asked to decide whether he/she would (re)double and/or take or pass. I sometimes omit the (C or) R and occasionally even the P as well if a Pass is immensely obvious (i.e., more so than here), but only when I'm squeezed for space.
32S-41X-21S-63P-64P-65S-53H-F-21E-53E-
C-21@-F-64O-31-F-62Z-11B-21X-65R-64S-
42d-32E-43P-63R-55a-R-P
I'm experimenting with a new format that hyphenates only between pairs of plays (i.e., BlueWhite-BlueWhite...). Compare the full-game representation above with the one below. (Feedback is encouraged.)
32S41X-21S63P-64P65S-53HF-21E53E-
C-21@F-64O31-F62Z-11B21X-65R64S-
42d32E-43P63R-55aR-P
Questions are welcome, in reference either to moves I already discussed or to moves I didn't.
I'll present Nactation notes for game 2 in a separate post.
Nack