Hi GNU Backgammon Users,
I hope that you are gracious enough with your time to explain some basic gnu
backgammon weight calculations to me. I developed a rudimentary internet
backgammon gambling site in 2010. My site’s aesthetics and game lobby were
flawed. Also, I realized that there were not many people who wanted to play
backgammon for money. Thus, I closed the site within a few months of its
opening.
I wish to make another attempt. The goals of this cosmetically improved site
are
very modest compared to my original hopes. Hopefully, I can attract a few dozen
regular customers who enjoy low stakes backgammon. The problems with Play65 are
the horrific waits and high rakes. My site addresses these issues.
Since there will be a small customer base, it is essential that clients have
the
opportunity to play a Bot if there are no opponents. I have been developing GM
Bot for this purpose. My goal is to allow players to win a small amount of
money
if they defeat GM Bot, but lose nothing if GM Bot wins. My rakes are low, the
customer base is small, and players are paid to play GM Bot without risk.
Thus,
my gaming site may not be profitable. But I don’t care. Great backgammon sites
like GNU Backgammon, BGOnline, Backgammon Galore, and others do not generate
profit for the owner. These sites are labors of love, not labors of profit. If
I
can create a site which is enjoyed by low stakes backgammon gamblers, then I am
willing to lose several thousand dollars per year.
My GM Bot is working properly. It uses dozens of basic strategies for checker
and cube play. Unfortunately, over the last several months I have not developed
strategies which allow GM Bot to consistently play well. Initially, I did not
think that would be a problem since I am not trying to develop an excellent
Bot.
The Bot’s purpose is to entertain my clients. However without applying position
weights, I cannot develop a decent Bot.
Thus, I seek answers from the GNU Backgammon source code. Quite frankly, as a
visual basic programmer I understand only a fraction of this code. I need to
learn to use the gnubg weights file. I understand how GNU represents any
backgammon position with an 80 bit string and how this string can be converted
to a Position ID. Is gnubg weights associated with the 80 bit string, the
Position ID, or some other metric? Can you teach me how to associate a
backgammon position with gnubg weights? Is there some type of vector used?
Even though I program with VB, if I knew the exact C+ code or where to find the
necessary C+ code, I could translate and eventually understand.
GNU Backgammon 0.15
250 128 5 1 0.1000000 1.0000000
-1.1286598
5.6459165
The above are the first lines of gnubg weights. I do not know how to interpret
any of these lines or numbers. I suspect that these numbers represent the
strength of specific positions. Can you explain the above four lines?
Even though, there are 1,813 pages of weights, I suspect that some board
positions are not represented in these pages. How is a position weighted if it
isn’t on the list? Also, does the attached gnubg weights include bearoff
positions? If not, where do I find GNU bearoff database?
Your assistance in understanding GNU backgammon weight system would be much
appreciated.
Thanking you in advance,
Stanley E. Richards
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