BGBlitz

BGBlitz is a program intended to be the ultimate in Backgammon software. It hosts strong Backgammon playing Bots, training aids, tools to analyze matches and any further features which are requested.

The current release version 1.0 has the following features:

• A neural net, called TachiAI, which has learned to play worldclass Backgammon. For beginners there are also weaker levels available.
• You can set your opponent to be human (useful for entering matches from books, etc.), network (to play against someone over TCP/IP) or TachiAI (the computer opponent). In the release 1.0 there's just one computer opponent, TachiAI. BGBlitz is designed to be able to host several bots and in the future there will be additional computer opponents.
• You can play Backgammon or Nackgammon (a variant leading to more complex games)
• Select your language between German and English. Other languages will follow, if there's demand.
• You can train yourself with difficult positions from the quiz databases. You can download databases from the BGBlitz website or create your own.
• You can analyze (best moves, evaluation, cube action) any position at any time, save positions and continue playing from a saved position.
• BGBlitz has a calculator included which computes the important parameters for cube handling in matchplay, a useful aid in improving your cube decisions. You can choose from three popular match equity tables as the basis for the calculations.
• You can replay, analyze and annotate your matches with BGBlitz or matches from many other sources such as FIBS, GamesGrid, etc...
• You can collect matches in databases and select specific games (e.g. all matches from your next opponent in a tournament). Additionally you can calculate statistics, such as which openings are played and how successful they are.
• There are a lot of formats for matches. With BGBlitz you can read many of them and convert to some other match-formats.
• You can read logfiles from FIBS/W and MacFIBS with BGBlitz, so you can analyze your online games later.
• With the included endgame-database you have very precise winning probabilities available and can improve your endgame play.
• You can have a customized appearance and a wide range of settings in BGBlitz to your own personal taste.
• You can copy a character representation of the current position to the clipboard. This is useful for sending positions in an email or newsgroup postings.
• To prove that TachiAI doesn't cheat, you have full control of the initial value of the random number generator.
• For the evaluation of long races, you can calculate the Kleinman count.

REQUIREMENTS

BGBlitz is a multi-platform software. It should run on every platform, delivering a complete Java 1.1 environment. The tested environments are:

• Win 95, Win 98, Win ME, Win NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows XP
• Macintosh 9.2 or newer (probably from 8.5)
• Macintosh OS X 10.1 or newer
• Linux 2.2 or newer

A Pentium/200, K6/200 or a PowerPC/200 should be sufficient. If the 2ply-evaluation isn't used, a Pentium/100 or a PowerPC/100 will probably do fine.

About 12 MB free memory and about 10 MB on the disk are needed.
Naturally a faster CPU and more RAM never hurt ;-)

A resolution of 800x600 or higher is recommended. Depending on your platform a resolution of 1024x768 may be necessary for some dialogs boxes.

Before the installation of BGBlitz, you need a Java-virtual machine.

PRICES

BGBlitz comes in three versions:

• The Free Version includes all the features already in pre 1.0 versions, plus numerous improvements (naturally, all contributed stuff is in the free version).
• The Player Version adds playing against BGBlitz, playing online, evaluation of positions and showing the best moves (in every context, e.g. play, replay, database etc.). This version costs $23.
• The Professional Version includes a rollout facility and an tutor giving comments on cube handling and gameplay. Further features (e.g. Match analysis) will come. This version costs $46.

All minor upgrades and one major upgrade are free. I.e. if you bought an 1.x version all updates up to 2.99 are free; if you bought an 2.x all updates up to 3.99 are free.

Upgrading from the Player Version to the Professional Version is possible at any time, and the upgrade price is $23 (i.e. exactly the difference).

It is planned to make further add-ons available, e.g. BGBlitz is designed from the ground up to incorporate many playing engines, so it is possible for other developers to include their bots in BGBlitz and make them available for free or commercially.

Visit the BGblitz Website