Checker Movement
Your checkers are black and move clockwise around the board by default.
To Play
- Tap the dice to roll.
- Tap a checker to move.
- Tap a point to move to.
- After you have made all of your moves, tap the dice to end your turn.
This game follows standard backgammon rules. More information can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/backgammon
Advanced Options
Tap the arrow button at the upper left corner of the screen to access the advanced options menu. This menu allows you to Resign a game, Auto Finish a game, or e-mail Match Files.
If you select Auto Finish, the computer will automatically play out the rest of the game. It will make the best moves for you, according to its AI.
If you select Match Files, you can e-mail match files (.mat) for the last 10 matches. These files can be imported into GNU Backgammon.
Equity
Estimated points that the player will win for the current position. (Negative equity = points computer will win.)
Status Meter
Shows the chance of each side winning. (For example, full black = 100% chance for black to win.)
Hint
Makes the best move for the player. If the Hint button glows, it means you have made a bad move and should consider making a different move. If Cube Tutor Mode is turned off, tapping the Hint button during a cube decision will show you the correct action to take.
Undo
Reverts player position to start of turn or replays computer's moves.
Checker Play Skill
A measure of how well the player or computer is playing, given in two statistics, ER and Percentage. Note: Doubling cube errors are not computed and do not contribute to these statistics.
ER: The error rate measured in millipoints per move. The lower the error rate, the better. The chart below shows estimated error rates for various playing levels.
| ER | Title |
| 0-3 | World Class |
| 3-5 | Expert |
| 5-8 | Advanced |
| 8-11 | Intermediate |
| > 11 | Beginner |
Percentage: This statistic ranges from 0% (playing moves at random) to 100% (playing the best move every turn). Unlike ER, forced moves and moves using hints are excluded from the Percentage calculation.
ELO Rating
A running measurement of your playing skill when playing against the computer. Your ELO rating is initially set at 1500. It will increase when you win a match and decrease when you lose a match. The amount of rating change depends on the rating of the opponent you are playing, the length of the match, and the total number of matches you have played (i.e., the FIBS rating formula). Detailed information on how the rating is calculated can be found here. The chart below shows estimated ELO ratings for various playing levels.
| ELO Rating | Title |
| > 2000 | World Class |
| 1850-2000 | Expert |
| 1700-1850 | Advanced |
| 1500-1700 | Intermediate |
| < 1500 | Beginner |
Settings
| Gameplay | |
| Skill Level | Easy, Medium, Hard, Expert |
| Match Length | Play single games or a match to 1, 3, 5, 7, or 15 points. |
| Doubling Cube | Play with or without a doubling cube. |
| Computer Resignation | When on, the computer will resign when it is certain to lose. |
| Game Type | Play Standard Backgammon or Nackgammon. |
| 2-Player Mode | When on, two human players can play against each other on the same device. An arrow at the center of the board indicates which player's turn it is and the direction of play. |
| Display | |
| Checker Color (Human) | Select the checker color for the human player or player 1 (2-player mode). |
| Checker Color (Computer) | Select the checker color for the computer player or player 2 (2-player mode). |
| Board Design | Select the board design. |
| Checker Movement | Move your checkers clockwise or counter-clockwise (reverses board direction). |
| Show Possible Moves | When on, points will be highlighted to show possible movement options. |
| Display Pip Count | Turn the pip count on or off. |
| Display Equity/Meter | Turn the Equity and Status Meter on or off. |
| Options | |
| One-Tap Moves | When on, the higher die will be displayed on the left. Tapping on a checker will move it using the left die if possible. If not possible, it will move using the right die. Tapping on the dice will swap the positions of the left and right dice. |
| Autoplay Forced Moves | When on, the computer will automatically move for the player when there is only one possible move. |
| Automatic Bearoff | When on, the computer will automatically move for the player in a bearoff situation without opposition. When set on Greedy, it will choose the move that bears off as many checkers as possible, as long as there is only one such move. If there are multiple moves of this type, then Greedy mode will not activate. Note: the Greedy move may not always be optimal. When set on Best Move, the computer will choose the best move according to its AI. This is equivalent to pressing Hint. |
| Checker Speed | Select the checker movement speed. |
| Auto Finish Speed | Select the speed at which Auto Finish plays. |
| Move Tutor Threshold | When on, the Hint button will glow when you make a bad move. The threshold level that you select will determine what is considered a bad move. |
| Cube Tutor Mode | When on, the doubling cube will glow when you should double. Also, when your opponent doubles you, the Accept or Resign button will glow to tell you which action to take. When off, you can tap the Hint button during a cube decision to see the correct action to take. |
| Confirm Doubles | When on, you will be asked to confirm when you double. This is used to prevent accidental doubling. |
| Sound | Turn sound effects on or off. |
| Manual Rolls | When on, you can roll real dice and enter the rolls into the game. This option is used to prove that the computer does not cheat. |
| Random Number Generator (RNG) | |
| RNG Seed | Select the random number generator seed that determines the list of dice rolls for the current session. Setting the seed to a particular value will reproduce the same list of dice rolls. This seed can be used to print out and analyze upcoming dice rolls. To do this, click here. |
| Next Roll Number | Select the next roll number to use, ranging from 0-9999. While the seed determines the list of dice rolls, the next roll number determines which roll in the list will be used next in the game. You can set this along with the seed in order to replay games. For example, if you start a game on roll 40, then after the game, you can set the roll number back to 40 in order to play a new game with the same dice rolls. |
| Swap Opening Rolls | When on, the dice for the opening roll will be swapped. This will result in the opposite side winning the opening roll, and thus, all subsequent rolls in the game will also be swapped. For example, if the opening roll were 6-1, normally the player would move first because the player uses the first die (6), and the computer uses the second die (1). If the Swap Opening Rolls option is turned on, the opening roll would become 1-6, and the computer would win the opening roll. This option can be used in conjunction with the previous two options to replay a game where each side receives the other side's dice rolls. |
| Info | |
| GnuBG Position & Match ID | Displays the GNU Backgammon position and match ID for the current match in progress. You can copy the ID and paste it into another app or email the ID. This is used to export positions to GNU Backgammon. |
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