Czuch Chuckers: I thought the game was called go-moku

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku

One goes up.
One goes down.

The matches.

Curious... I wonder what happened that day.

I guess you are refering to the matches resigned from ZEROZERO at 1 February 2006 and at 29 January 2006 and at 26 January 2006, always against NOBODY25.....
But there was some ZEROZERO's massive wins at January 26 againt NOBODY25! Covering traces?
What is your suspicion.....?

Pythagoras: No suspicion, just curiosity. It's a long-standing playing partnership and maybe there was a falling out that day, for instance. It just struck me as an interesting snippet in the Backgammon soap opera.

playBunny:Could have been bad hair days. LOL

I can assure you that if we play together 30 games and finish them today, there is no chance you or i will beat the other 100% of the times!
But as i see here this is not the case since they both play a huuuuuuge number of games at the same time so this is somewhat possible although i see maaaany resigns.....?!?!?
Notice how many games they have playing against each other! !!!!!!ENORMOUS!!!!! value......
And 40 days per move.

Pythagoras: Yes, still over 200 mtches going strong. Maybe they were/are experimenting...

Does anybody know how many points you would get in Anti-Backgammon with the double cube if the opponent resigns early in the game? Doesn't it count as gammon or backgammon as in the standard backgammon variant!?

basplund: in my opinion you should have got 3 points for that game, i assumed thats what you would have got when i resigned, i'll resign a gammon game next to put it right.

qusar:
Well, we'll wait and see if it's a bug or not... in our game

basplund: ok, but bug or not there should be the option to offer what amount of points you wish to resign by, when the resignation offer is sent, like in live tournament play, then it is up to the opponent to decide whether to accept or decline.

playBunny:
LOL...didn't know we were that interesting ...:) But let me take away all your suspicions or curiosity or whatever.
nobody25 and me are very very good personal friends since years. We play a lot together on this site .Sometimes we play at our own computers at home and sometimes we play on the same (my) computer cause we are togheter a lot of time.
We always play lots of games against one another but we choose for 30 or 40 days a move cause sometimes we don't feel like playing or sometimes we can't play for a couple of days because of my work or because of other reasons . We play safe lol.
Now, what happened that day when I resigned a lot of games ? Very simple ....I was in a losing week and lost almost every single hyper game against my good friend . I was a bit bored with the hyper games that evening and I thought (at that moment) we had too many games of hyper running . So I started to delete game after game after game ...till suddenly nobody25 called me on the phone and yelled :" STOP !What are you doing ???? Stop deleting those games" And so I did ....we now take a few days of rest and play a game from time to time .
That's what happened . ANd don't be surprised when you see our numbers of games rising again next couple of days , cause I'm ill for 5 days and have to stay at home . Nobody25 is at home as well this week so we got plenty of time to play games again :)))))
You know ...we are on this site to play our games and not to investigate what other players are doing here ... ...But oh well...everybody has the right to do here what he(she) thinks is fun .
If anyone got anymore questions about interactions against nobody25 and myself, please don't hesitate to contact me ...Have fun

Good Job, Luc.. I have played these two..Luc and Peter for a couple years at another site. I even talk to them on my IM together. I was very sickened when I read this. Not everyone is a cheat if that is what was being thought here.
Just wanted my 2 cents as well. Thank you.
BARB

Pbarb2: It's a pity that you were sickened, Barb, as I had certainly had no thoughts that there was cheating going on. If I discover cheating then I'm "happy" to shout it out.

playBunny: indeed I wouldn't know how we could cheat on whatever by resigning a few games (read : a lot of games) and winning a lot of games a few days later

playBunny: It certainly was a curious pattern, and brought out my monkey curiosity as well :)

alanback: wow ...I didn't know that you people were "spying" on players moves and profiles and stats and whatever ....feels like " Big Brother" LOL..maybe Peter and I better put our wabcams on when we are playing so everybody can watch us doing strange things ROFLOL

ZEROZERO: Nothing kinky, please, I have a weak heart

ZEROZERO: some players show weird patterns, have a look at some of the top players of hyper gammon .. i dont think there are any weird ones up there now .. but now and then a new player (often pawns) shows up in there with very weird games (often a lot of resigns by his opponents, which are also pawns, in games which the opponent would have won) ... some people look at the top ratings to have a look who are moving up the ranks and who arent .. and to study their games to see if they can learn anything new from them and to challenge them for an interesting game themselves

i know both you and nobody from several games and know you arent cheating (at least i wouldnt expect you two to do :)) ... but curiousity is a characterstic of humans which cant be denied ... even though it wasnt cheating i was curious to what happened myself as well :)
not thats its a matter of life or death to me .. but something which can make one curious (and that doesnt have to be a bad suspicion)

(sorry for the wrong english words :))

alanback:

you know, if i saw someone rising that fast i would go and see for myself, but not bringing it up on a board like this. ZEROZERO resigned all those games when i wasn't even online, then i came online and asked him to stop, oke it was fun to be number one, but i play so much hypers, that in a few days i will probably go down fast, and i really don't care about those ratings, i just love playing those games, and that's it, but i rather prefer that if anything like that happens again, just send me a message and ask me what is going, so i can explain, rather that, then now, hearing that you were talking about it, about the games and me, and i have to find out trough other people.
I'm not mad or anything, and i will keep playing everybody, but next time, just send me a message, please, or if you wanna say it here, just let me know, and not like this.
Thanks, peter, and hope to see you all in some games, you can play me, and try to get my rating down, lol

playBunny: You know I don't post here or on general boards often. It looks to me you were the one that brought it up. The others just carried it on.
Just to let you know...I don't have a webcam. All I do is talk..LOL

nobody25: *nod* true .. handled personally is always better, especially with rooks who are often on the site and are known to answer

i didnt even know you were #1 for a while :) fun :) it only happened once to me .. not in a gammon type though but just when espionage came online, i was one of the first to complete 4 games :) .. yes never been #1 established .. but i am working on my gammon skills lately :)

nobody25 and Zerozero: ..i agree 100%..the problem is that some of the "top players" are taking the rating much too seriously.

I'm enjoying being #1 in two gammon variants at the same time, as I did when I was #1 in BG -- but I don't expect it to last!

ZEROZERO: Curiosity, not suspicion.

I can understand that frustration as I get periods of play like that against a robot that I play at a different site. I'm glad to hear that nobody25 spotted the "madness" and you had a chat.

investigate what other players are doing here ...

Aye, there are a number of players who do that. It's not investigation as such because usually it's stumbled upon and then brought to the board (specifically as suspected cheating not, like in this case, as an interesting happening). That can only be a good thing because there are cheats who have been exposed by the "investigators".

...But oh well...everybody has the right to do here what he(she) thinks is fun.

Looking at the graphs, rating lists, reading other's profiles, going through games. Oh yes, that's definitely part of the fun!

LOL...didn't know we were that interesting

Thanks for enlightening us, it was interesting! And you write with good humour.

I hope your illness isn't too much hassle and you get better soon. Sounds like you'll be able to make a bit of holiday out of it. Have fun, too!

Marfitalu: I don't think there is a difference, is there? There is a difference for games where draws are possible. If draws were possible, then each player would earn half a point toward the 10 point goal in a draw, but draws would not count for anything in a 10 wins match.

alanback: Marfitalu: Isn't the answer that even without the cube, you can score more than one point in a single game of a multi-game match? If you reach gammon or backgammon against your opponent, you would get 2 or 3 points for the game, instead of one point. So, it is possible to reach 10 points in fewer than 10 games.

playBunny: You need to go and read the description of a 10 points match! This is not a 10 game match, but a match to 10 points.

alanback: Lol. I was having second thoughts even as I posted, so I just did. My reply's been deleted.

txaggie: It makes very little sense to count gammons in one-point matches or matches without the cube. It's rarely done, and it isn't done here.

alanback: You are right, of course! I stand corrected.

Marfitalu: Well -- I think of gammon and the cube as part of the package. Of course, it would be possible to count gammons and backgammons in multiple point matches, but it would be odd. If there's no cube, I am used to the idea that I am playing for one point only. There is a significant difference in strategy.

Marfitalu: That's my understanding.

alanback: I think of gammon and the cube as part of the package.

Gammons are part of chequer play while I'm used to having the cube as a separate deal. I wouldn't say that playing for gammon means a significant difference strategy (though, of course it depends on what makes for significance). I think it would be an interesting enhancement to non-cube matches without being alien territory to non-cubists.

playBunny: What if I'm an impressionist?

alanback: (Obvious line.. ) I've already gathered that impression. Boom boom.

playBunny: You'll need to improve your comedic routine before you impress me.

grenv: Heh heh. My best is only viewable in the fellowships.

grenv: Comedy should never be routine

alanback: It should never appear routine.

playBunny: I stand corrected!

alanback:
I don't think there is a difference, is there? There is a difference for games where draws are possible. If draws were possible, then each player would earn half a point toward the 10 point goal in a draw, but draws would not count for anything in a 10 wins match.

But draws in Brainking Backgammon are possible.....
So a 10 points match is different from a 10 wins match....

Imagine the following:

Situation-1
----------------------
----------
At a 10 points match:
Player-1 = 18 draws + 1 win
Player-2 = 18 draws
Player-1 wins!
----------------------
At a 10 wins match:
Player-1 = 18 draws + 1 win
Player-2 = 18 draws
Nobody wins yet! Score is just 1-0 for player-1. Player-1 has to win 9 more games in order to win, while Player-2 has to win 10 games....
--------------------------------

Si

tuation-2
--------------------------------
At a 10 points match:
Player-1 = 2 draws + 9 wins
Player-2 = 2 draws + 5 wins
Player-1 wins by 10-6!
----------------------
At a 10 wins match:
Player-1 = 2 draws + 9 wins
Player-2 = 2 draws + 5 wins
Nobody wins yet! Score is 9-5 for player-1. Player-1 has to win 1 more game in order to win, while Player-2 has to win 5 games....
--------------------------------

So there is a difference.
What i am missing.....?

Pythagoras: It's true draws are theoretically possible, but only if both players agree. Theoretically, again, that should happen so rarely that it is not necessary to consider the possibility of a draw in discussing backgammon.

alanback: Which makes me wonder if there should even be a draw button in backgammon games. Pente is the same. Matches can be draws, but not games.

Thad: Hear Hear. I guess it's part of the game engine for all games though.

grenv: True, but that's a lame excuse. ;-)

back/gammons still don't count for cubeless games, do they??

redsales: correct

playBunny: Gammons are part of chequer play while I'm used to having the cube as a separate deal. I wouldn't say that playing for gammon means a significant difference strategy (though, of course it depends on what makes for significance).

Oh no.....You've disappointed me! But hopefully you corrected your mistake at the last moment....
Of course and game play is very different when someone plays for a Gammon. Even from the start. Trying to close his home board from the beginning, slotting like a maniac(well the maniac goes in desperate situations), playing very aggresively, bringing builders targeting at the home board, double hitting in almost every chance, not paying big attention to splitting, etc.
For example when you are going for a gammon and the start play is 64 then you just make the 2 point! This would be correct in this situation. 43,32 starting rolls call for bringing 2 builders from 13. Even when the opponent starts with 43 and plays both from his 24-point, and then you have 32 for example, a double hit is probably the best move in a go-gammon situation....Also 21 with slotting, although this is considered superior in no gammon-go situations too, 51 with slotting, etc.....