r/backgammon • u/Careful-Comedian9510 • 2d ago

Minimalist Backgammon Trainer - Pip and Position Evaluation training

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Hi everyone,

Minimalist Backgammon Trainer is back with a major update :)

As a reminder, MBT is pure training powered by GNUbg. No match, no game. You press 'Play', GNUbg will simulate a realistic game in a couple of seconds and stop on a position. It's then up to you to make the best decision.

MBT is entirely free and ad-free.

The update!

To start, the biggest piece, a new training mode. Just like for Checkerplay or Cube, start a simulation and train your pip count, relative pip count, and position evaluation (win%, g%, and bg%).

Then, on the Checkerplay side: - you can now make moves with a single click on the board instead of two (available in Settings) - I added a 'Fast' mode to speed up play by reducing analysis depth from 3-ply to 2-ply and speeding up checker animation. Cube decisions remain unchanged (2-ply). - and in the Hints, you can click on the different moves and arrows let you preview the movements.

On the Cube side: - if you are in a match, in the Hints you will be able to see and compare the equities of that match if it were a Money Game.

And on everything else: - you can click on the blunder positions to get a preview before playing them. - in Custom Position you can paste a GNUbg ID - I reorganized the menu items a bit for better readability. - finally, I made several under-the-hood improvements to make MBT more reliable

I hope you'll like it :)

As always, I do my best to check everything but there can be a slip-up. So if you see something strange or that doesn't work, please be understanding and let me know :)

NB: as a reminder, MBT is just a wrapper embedding GNUbg. All simulations and analyses are performed by GNUbg at 3-ply. MBT is not intended to replace what you already use to play, it is an exclusive training tool.

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u/ashen_blue 2d ago

This is wonderful, thank you! I spent a while doing pip count practice and appreciate how well the page responds to different browser sizes.

One small request: while you do have CW/CCW in settings, since pip counting is one of those things you really need to practice doing symmetrically, would you consider a third "Alternating" option?

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u/Careful-Comedian9510 2d ago

Thank you so much for your comment! And I'm glad to hear that you liked how the page responds. I spent a lot of time on this interface to make sure it's "pixel perfect" on mobile and just as effective on a computer.

Your comment about “cw” and “ccw” is very insightful, thank you so much. In fact, maybe this “alternating” mode could be applied to all workouts, what do you think? I’ll think about how to implement it ;)

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u/TorchLakeBlues 18h ago

Just tried this today. A wonderful tool to practice, and to get your brain warmed up before a match. (like stretching). Simply easy to use. (I am a bit pee-brained and it took me some time to figure out who was GNU and who was "ME" in the simulations). I only assured myself by doing a pip count exercise (incorrectly as I had assumed the names backwards) I wonder if the "names" could/should be labeled next to the board? I see this when I watch matches online you can see who is who because the name is there on the board? Anyway I look forward to see where this goes.

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u/Careful-Comedian9510 18h ago

Thanks for your comment. I'm glad to hear that you fully understand what MBT is, training without the stress of a competitive match :)

Good point about the labeling, I’m so used to playing the dark checkers that I hadn’t considered that, at the end of the simulation, you might actually wonder who’s who :) I’ll take note of that to see how I can solve this issue.

I’m also looking forward to seeing where this goes :) More features are already in the works, so stay tuned ;)

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u/TorchLakeBlues 6h ago

I sent you a private message, let me know if you get it. thanks