How to annotate/record a live match

[josephmcg]

Hi,

I'm the odd man out this evening at my local club.  As an exercise, I thought I'd try following along a match using gnubg, inputting every dice-roll, every cube decision, and every move in real time.

What I found was that with two reasonably quick players, gnubg is not well suited for the task [using the gui at least].

I think I'd need to be able to enter details using keyboard shortcuts rather than with the mouse, so that I can keep my eyes on the real board most of the time.

I've seen coverage of tournament games on youtube where the annotation is pretty quick.
Can anyone recommend any software or hints to help do this?

Joseph

[dorbel]

There are people who use a keyboard to record matches although I never have, but whether using pencil and paper or a keyboard, the secret is to write down the dice roll without taking your eyes off the board. When the player moves, just record the number of the point where the checker ends up. Use an X to show a hit. With a little practice you should be able to keep up even with fast players. Enter it into the bot afterwards to get the analysis. If a game doesnt make sense because you have made a mistake, ask the players. You'd be amazed what they can remember. Some can reconstruct long sequences, even entire games and matches!

[diane]

You'd be amazed what they can remember. Some can reconstruct long sequences, even entire games and matches!

This is true - I was seriously impressed when I first came upon it!! [ok, I still am..]

[josephmcg]

The secret is to write down the dice roll without taking your eyes off the board. When the player moves, just record the number of the point where the checker ends up. Use an X to show a hit

Aha - a secret!  I'm glad I asked.

I had rather hoped to enter this 'live' into gnubg [or similar], to be able to get hints from the tutor in real-time.

It seems that with current technology, this is a two-person operation:  One to record the match in real-time, and one to enter into gnubg based on that record - with a slight delay.

When i watched a live-simmed game on youtube recently, I noticed that there was a considerable delay before sim results were available for a given position.  This explains why.

Three options remain:
- Write some front-end software for gnubg [or similar] specifically to translate from speedy touch-typed annotation system to a format understood by gnubg.
- Find some front-end software that someone else has already written for the same purpose
- Video the game, and input the game to gnubg [or similar] from the video stream, using freeze-frame where necessary.

[stiefnu]

I've seen matches recorded speedily into Extreme Gammon on a pc laptop, generally keeping up with the live play.  Of course, if a clock is being used and time is getting tight, then it'll be very difficult (if not impossible) to keep up, whatever method is being employed.