Forum Archive : GNU Backgammon

Improving your game using GnuBG From:   D.U.G. Address:   googlenews2002@hotmail.com Date:   5 November 2002 Subject:   how can I train with gnubg/windows? Forum:   rec.games.backgammon Google:   88f4ed23.0211051628.4976a8e8@posting.google.com I recently started using gnubg for windows. I sometimes use the hint function to see what the program would recommend for a move, and for the more common situations I enjoy seeing the difference between what I might do and what is suggested. I would, however, very much like to hone skills in a more rigourous way. How can I use gnubg to help me? Or shall I simply continue to choose "hint" when I want a suggestion? gracias in advance --d.u.g. Ryan Long  writes: You want to play matches (or sessions to simulate money play) and then analyze your moves. Taking hints during the game isn't the best way to improve your skills. After you finish a game or match, have GNUBG analyze it (this option is on a drop down menu). Then you need to click on the Windows drop down menu and open up both the annotation and the game record windows. (I think that's what they're called; I don't have GNUBG on this workstation.) This will give a list of every move made in the game/match. Click on a specific move and voila, you have a ranked list of the best moves in that situation. Your move will be colored red, and the position will be shown on the board. SilverFox  writes: The best way to improve your skills is going to be a completely subjective affair. It may very well be that taking hints during the game isn't the best way for you, but I would suggest trying several different ways of learning before making that assumption. One way that I didn't see mentioned in any post is the use of the tutor feature of GNU. This is a great tool that can be highly beneficial. You set it to the error level you want GNU to detect and it will flag you when you are about to make a move that exceeds that set level. Then, it doesn't just give you a hint, it lets you try again. Often I've found that my second choice play is perfectly acceptable. But all that is not to say that analyzing your matches after the match is not good. In fact I completely agree that it's a must if you really want to improve your play. Rollout the positions where you think you were right and were flagged as wrong (affectionately called the "appeal process". :) ) Personally, I find the best way to learn to be a combination of all of the above. Ron Barry  writes: I agree with Silverfox. The advantage to using the tutor feature is that you get instantaneous feedback, and this is highly beneficial to learning. Certainly you would want to analyze your matches later on, but I have found that, since I started using the tutor feature (for about a month now), my ratings when I *don't* use the tutor feature have advanced from around 1600 to around 1800, for the default 7-point matches. Frank Mazza  writes: When I use GNU's tutor mode, on those rare occasions when Gnu disagrees with my play (hehehe), I use the hint to find the right move and then use the "Play Anyway" option. This both allows me to have instant feedback when I'm making an error, but preserves my mistake for posterity and allows me to analyze the match afterward and not get an inflated grade because I used the tutor mode to prevent my mistakes. As far as training to improve goes, I think the hardest thing, whether you use Snowie or Gnu, is taking the time to really go over your errors. It is much more fun to just keep playing then grinding over a completed match. But it seems to be one of the only ways to ferret out systemic errors and identify position/cube decisions you have trouble with (positions/cube decisions which might not show up that often, but may cost you the match if played poorly).   Did you find the information in this article useful?           Do you have any comments you'd like to add?

 

GNU Backgammon

Analyzing GamesGrid matches  (Roy Passfield, Dec 2001) 

Batch analysis tool  (Øystein Johansen, June 2004) 

Cache size  (Ned Cross+, Mar 2004) 

Compiling for Windows  (Øystein Johansen, Jan 2002) 

Edit mode removing checker from bar  (Scott Steiner+, May 2003) 

Entering an annotated match  (Albert Silver, Dec 2003) 

Error rates: Gnu vs. Snowie  (Raccoon, Mar 2006) 

Even-ply/odd-ply effect  (Raccoon, Nov 2004) 

Even-ply/odd-ply effect  (Tom Keith+, Oct 2003) 

Even-ply/odd-ply effect  (Scott Steiner+, Dec 2002) 

Filter settings  (Robert-Jan Veldhuizen, Nov 2004) 

Gnu 0.13 versus Jellyfish and Snowie  (Torsten Schoop, Aug 2003) 

Gnu 0.13 vs. Snowie 4  (Albert Silver, June 2003) 

Gnu 0.14 vs. Jellyfish  (Michael Howard+, July 2003) 

Gnu versus Snowie and Jellyfish  (Michael Depreli, Oct 2005) 

How luck factor is calculated  (Gregg Cattanach, Aug 2002) 

How rollouts work  (Gary Wong, July 1999) 

How to enter an illegal move  (Øystein Johansen, Aug 2003) 

Importing .gam files  (PAR+, Mar 2005) 

Importing PartyGammon matches  (rew+, July 2006) 

Improving your game using GnuBG  (D.U.G.+, Nov 2002) 

Installing on Windows  (maareyes, Oct 2001) 

Interpreting JSD's  (Adrian Wright+, Feb 2005) 

JSD's and confidence intervals  (Daniel Murphy+, Jan 2005) 

Logging rollouts  (Øystein Johansen, Oct 2004) 

Luck rate  (Kees van den Doel+, May 2002) 

MWC versus Equity (EMG)  (Ken+, Apr 2005) 

Manually entering first roll  (Andreas Graf+, Apr 2005) 

Match equity tables  (Raccoon, July 2005) 

Personal reflections  (Louis Nardy Pillards, Sept 2002) 

Playing two computers against each other  (Stanley E. Richards+, Mar 2008) 

Python scripting  (Øystein Johansen+, Nov 2004) 

Quasi-random dice in rollouts  (Ian Shaw, Mar 2004) 

Question marks in game list  (Jim Segrave, July 2005) 

Questions and answers  (Jim Segrave+, Jan 2003) 

Questions and answers  (Jørn Thyssen, Aug 2002) 

Restarting a rollout with different settings  (Jim Segrave, Apr 2005) 

Restarting a rollout with different settings  (Robert-Jan Veldhuizen, Apr 2004) 

Rollout settings  (geoff arnold+, Apr 2007) 

Rollout settings  (Stick+, Nov 2005) 

Rollout settings  (Robert-Jan Veldhuizen, Mar 2004) 

Rollout settings  (Ian Dunstan, Aug 2003) 

Rollout settings for the impatient  (Robert-Jan Veldhuizen, June 2004) 

Running rollouts in background  (Bruce+, Apr 2004) 

Saving rollout results from command-line interface  (Jeremy Bagai+, Apr 2006) 

Saving rollouts  (Mislav Radica+, May 2006) 

Setting GnuBG's playing strength  (JP White, Sept 2001) 

Setting skill level  (Jim Segrave, Apr 2004) 

Setting up and saving a rollout  (Albert Silver, Dec 2003) 

What's GNU?  (Gary Wong, Oct 2001) 

Which player is player 0?  (Neil Kazaross+, Oct 2004) 

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