Lol. Wayne has chosen to bring this to the Board of Backgammoners. That wasn't particularly my wish but, as the hand has been played, let me lay out all the information that we have at present:


This is the position that Wayne was in when he rolled a 4-2.

He moved 11/7 as he said, stacking all the men in a temporary position of safety. This is an illegal move under the accepted rules of hypergammon.

Wayne knew this because his message to me was:
look carefully at my last move.
because of the flaw in Fencer's programming, I only had to move the 4. Normally I would have had been forced to move both 4 and 2
Naughty Fencer



My reply:
Hmmm. naughty Fencer indeed. It's a shame that you pressed the [Move] button before doing the correct move. What move would you have done if you'd used both the 4 and the 2?



Then Wayne:
I would have had to move 7-3 with the 4 and then 11-9 or 3-1 with the 2 which obviously would have opened me up. Probably 3-1 if I didnt know your dice roll



Then me:
Aye, I'd have done 7/3/1* as well, I reckon. If nothing hit it then it would be safe in the corner with a good chance of that 7-point man covering it is he survives.

This bug makes for a very interesting situation. The problem is that you knowingly made an illegal move. Now some would say that that was cheating but I don't see it that way. A proper cheat would have kept quiet and hoped for it not to be noticed. You, having very clearly pointed it out, are not a cheat.

What you did do was take advantage of a bug that you discovered. You got to make a move that could turn out advantageous (depending on what happens when you split them next go) but, if made properly, and now that we know my dice, would have seen your man get sent to the bar with the others possibly to follow.

More importantly, at least to me, is that you missed a wonderful opportunity to score a very good sportsmanship point.

If I'd been in your situation I'd have made the correct move and told you about the bug and how I'd dealt with it. That way I may have lost the game but I would certainly stick in your mind as a fair-minded player and a good sport. That would have had more value to me than the result because getting the opportunity to win happens every game but getting to show that you're a good sport doesn't. (Some people would see it as spelling chump and loser but I don't think you're one of those.)

The situation leaves us with the question of how to proceed. As I see it there are several possibilities:

6) You, having taking advantage of the bug, resign. I say it merely because it's a possibility. I'm definitely not in favour of this solution.

5) We play on. If I lose, I will feel that I lost unfairly. If I win then I'll wonder whther I should have lost. Either way it won't be the game that we should have played.

4) We make the game a draw. It gets added to our history but our ratings remain the same.

3) We ask the powers-that-be to make the game unrated and play on. This would turn the game into an interesting but painless what-if.

2) We ask that the game be deleted. This is the 'cleanest' solution.

1) We ask that the game be put into the state it would been had you made the move that you would have done (hence me asking you what that would have been). I'm in favour of this one because we get to keep the game after an interesting interruption.

I'm in favour of options 1, 2 or 3.
What thinkest thou, Wayne?
:-)



And me again:
Lol. I've just thought of another possibility.

4a) We report the bug and Fencer declares it Not a bug. We play on.

That's acceptable to me too, for this situation, but not for the game as a whole.
;-)


And Wayne:
actually this has been mentioned so many times in the past and Fencer's opinion has always been that this is ok to do in games on BK. Remember too we are playing HIS hypergammon and not backgammon. I would NEVER have done this in a game of "backgammon" however, this is Fencer's Hyper Gammon and hence it is not a bug, only a nuance


And Wayne:
I would have said option 1 if I did not know your future dice roll.
If we can have option 1 with the future still to be undetermined, that would suit me.
Feel free to ask Fencer to do this and you have my ok on that



Unfortunately I seem to have lost a bit of 1) when I was editing for it includes me keeping the dice roll that was given me after Wayne's move. (It's a 3-1 which would have hit the blot that he'd have left on the ace point.)

Wayne wants version 1a) where I lose that dice roll. ;-)



So, ladies and gentlemen of the board, these are the facts, opinions and wishes of the two players. What are your own feelings about these 8 options?