Hi!

Today I added another training track, Bullseye! and realized it has been a while since I have updated the version number. So here is what has happened recently on Backgammon Studio:

Backgammon Studio 3.2

Improvements since 3.1:

• New actiontags:
• Blot contact or not.
• Blot positioning.
• Homeboard blot or crossover.
• Cover which homeboard blot.
• Make which homeboard blot.
• Hit blot in homeboard or not.
• Increase directshots or not.
• New training tracks:
• Bullseye! Hit a blot in your 5 point board or pass on this opportunity?
• Coverup! Cover which homeboard point? Not always as obvious as it may seem!
• Volunteer! Volunteer a directshot or play it safe? Sometimes the answer is surprising!
• Last hope! Take a last attempt at avoiding gammon. Worth a try!
• Contact! Try to maintain contact with your back blots or don't worry about that?
• Play as with PR summary.
• Tournaments overview.
• My matches versus opponent.
• Scaled chat homescreen.
• Sound settings.
• Access buttons to privately shared databases.

Some images



An ever growing number of training tracks! Current total is 52.



The number of actiontags keeps growing too. Can't get enough of these!



MCG wanted to see a PR comparison at the end of playing through a match in 'Play as' mode (play as one of the original players in the match). I had to try this with a match I played a few years ago (while commuting to work). It was surprisingly fun to compete against my former self! [With your private database you can do this too!]



Which tournaments generate the most matches? The biggest change is Carolina Invitational that jumped from 11th to 6th place after a heroic transcription effort by Michelle Steinberg and her transcription team! Well done!



In your online matches overview you can now find out how well you have played against a particular opponent.



I find this homescreen option very useful (dynamic update of results in the latest news section and updates in the chat log) but it might not fit all screens so you can adjust the size of the chat area.



I suspect the sounds that Backgammon Studio uses can sometimes get a bit annoying so you can now turn off the ones you don't like.



If you have access to a privately shared database you should now see an access button in the main menu so you don't have to navigate to the databases section and then select your database from there.

In other news



Yesterday Backgammon Studio passed 900 users! I'm super happy about that but surely there are more backgammon players out there?

The US is getting a pretty good lead here but there is a chance to fight for second place!



The number of matches in the database keeps growing and is now at 4823 which isn't too bad! I also got a few matches from the Sibernik Open that was recently held in Croatia. This includes the 51 point match that Mochy played against the croatian team. Thanks Mate Feher!

Michelle Steinberg, Rick Janowski, Lawrence Powell, Robert Wachtel, Achim Müller, Kevin Finch, Michael Nielsen, Mochy and possibly more have all sent me matches. A big thanks to everyone!

While writing this posting I got a few emails about match transcriptions uploaded to Backgammon Studio from Janos Csendes. Awesome! Thanks! If you enable email notification of this event you will also get an email whenever this happens.



I suspect I have transcribed a few matches myself recently and currently working my way through 2014.

I am in the process of setting up a new server (more memory, cpu, disk) so Backgammon Studio will become unavailable for a few hours (perhaps longer) sometime next week. I haven't tried this before so wish me luck!

http://www.backgammonstudio.com The swiss army knife of backgammon!

Best regards,
TP

PS. I don't think I have ever seen a reply to any of my postings here. Very mysterious!

I Agree!! Parlorplay have the 20th century graphic and looks really ugly.
But to avoid this error again so i can logg in with the one acc from different server... it's okey
anyway 2 days ago i tried to play backgammon online on Parlorplay from my smartphone.
I muss keep looking a way playing from my android device..

Hello maria,

yes, indeed. I logged In for 1 min yesterday but after that I coudnt logg again.- with both acc i got this error.
Your idea was really good.Now I can logg into parlorplay with this acc and Fibzilla is working with the other one.
I will keep idle while loggedIn for a while till thing are normal again.
Thank your for the fast support!!!
Have a nice day!!

Not sure why you are getting that, but have you tried logging in using a different client other than Fibzilla?  Might be worth a shot.

Hi!

With the latest addition of 'Volunteer!' Backgammon Studio now offers 50 different training tracks where each try to cover a different aspect of backgammon play.

Most of these are very difficult so if you want a little less brutal start to your training then a visit to the action training section first is a good idea. Here you can try out problems which starts out with big errors and then you gradually work your way down to smaller errors as you level up.

Be prepared for a lot of surprises and a lot of incorrect answers! Backgammon is easy to play but very difficult to play to perfection!

Training tracks

1	Volunteer!	Volunteer! Volunteer a directshot or play it safe! Sometimes the answer is surprising!
2	Last hope!	Last hope! Take a last attempt at avoiding gammon. Worth a try!
3	Contact!	Contact! Try to maintain contact with your back blots or don't worry about that?
4	Midpoint crisis!	The midpoint is such a nice point to have! Is this the time to give it up?
5	Bulletproof!	Your opponent has a stronger board. Hit or just play it safe?
6	Greatest hit!	You are in bearoff. Is it worth the risk of going for one last hit?
7	Anchorman!	Hitting is often tempting but sometimes making an achor is the better choice. What to do?
8	Mind the gap!	Creating a gap in your homeboard may look ugly but perhaps it is worth the risk?
9	Demolition man!	Destroy your bridge and let your back checkers fend for themselves?
10	Bridge builder!	Build a bridge to let your back checkers get home safely?
11	Gold rush!	Go for gold and slot the 5p? How can you resist?
12	Thin red line!	Sometimes it is difficult to determine if you are good enough to double or not.
13	Primer!	Extending your prime is very tempting! But perhaps not always correct?
14	Too good!	Sometimes you miss the target and become too good! Or is it just an illusion?
15	Gone fishing!	Fishing for that second checker in your opponent board is tempting! Bite or not?
16	Last man standing!	Opponent is bearing off and you have an ace anchor. Stay or run?
17	Safe opening!	Safe opening! Play completely safe (no blots) or go for a bit of flexibility?
18	First!	First move! Practice makes perfect! Beware of score!
19	Warrior!	Warrior or worrier? Worry about opponent 5p board or hit anyway?
20	Race roulette!	Break contact and go for the race or wait just one more move?
21	Braveheart!	Are you brave enough to cube?
22	Jumper!	Jump a checker instead of hitting.
23	Holdup checker!	Holding game checker play.
24	Holdup!	Holding game cube action.
25	High five!	Make the 5p or not?
26	Breakup!	Break up prime or not?
27	Backend bombshell!	Clear from the back or not?
28	3rd roll checker!	3rd roll checker play
29	Home improvement!	Improve your home board or not?
30	Cubed!	You have been cubed
31	Candlesticks!	Stack'em high or not?
32	Double trouble!	Play a double checker play
33	Graveyard!	Bury a checker or not?
34	Fearless!	Leave a blot for direct hit or not?
35	Ace Ace baby!	Hit on the ace or not?
36	Payback!	Pay now or later
37	Opening reply!	Opening replies
38	Hitman!	Hit 1 or 2 or no hit
39	The End!	Less than 6 checkers left!
40	Checkout!	Bearoff checker play
41	Battlefront!	Slot the front of opponent prime or not?
42	Slot machine!	Double slot or not
43	Great escape!	Try to escape a prime or not?
44	Backgame checker!	Backgame checker play
45	Primetime checker!	Prime vs Prime checker play
46	Primetime cube!	Prime vs Prime cube action
47	Bearoff bingo!	Bearoff cube action
48	Bar brawl!	Cube from the bar or not
49	Backgame bliss!	Backgame cube action
50	Borderline bonanza!	Borderline cube action

http://www.backgammonstudio.com The swiss army knife of Backgammon!

Best regards,
TP