If you are already a user, remove or de-install your current copy of Expert Backgammon. Also remove all of your position and game files as they are not compatible with this version.
This disk contains about 1.7MB of data and has been compressed to fit on one 800K disk.
You need to do the following steps only once to decompress the data.
1. Go to the Finder.
2. Single click on your hard drive icon.
3. Select New Folder under the File menu.
4. Name the folder EXBG Folder.
5. Double-click on the file EXBGGE.sea.
6. A window will open asking you to Select Destination Folder...
7. Highlight the name of your hard disk and press the [Open] button.
8. Highlight the EXBG Folder and press the [Open] button.
9. Press the [Extract] button.
Double-click on the [64] icon to open the program. A backgammon board will appear. The first time that you startup, a window will open asking you to enter your name Type in your name up to 12 characters long and then press return.
Rolling the dice
Pressing the space bar or clicking the mouse anywhere on the playing surface will roll the dice. If the Dice sound option is checked, the computer will generate a dice shaking and rolling sound followed by a random number of dice displays before settling on the final roll.
Note: To allow greater control of the dice generation, you may hold down the mouse button until it feels right as the computer will continue to generate new rolls until you release the mouse button.
The black dice roll on the right side of the screen and correspond to the black checkers (yours). The white checkers and dice belong to the computer and appear on the left half of the board. On the first roll of every new game, each player rolls one die and the player rolling the larger number uses the value of both the black and the white dice for his move. If both dice are the same, the computer will not draw them and will internally generate a new roll. The color corresponding to the larger value of the two dice moves first. On subsequent rolls, each player will roll his own color dice on his side of the board. You must press the space bar or click the mouse after the completion of each move to roll the dice again.
Moving the Checkers
Basic move
The basic move is executed by clicking on the checker that you wish to move. If it is possible to move that checker then a hand cursor will appear, a "thup" will sound, the checker will gray out and a translucent checker will appear. Keep the mouse button down and drag the checker to the point that you wish to move to, then release the button. The gray checker on the starting point will disappear and you will hear a checker move sound.
If there is only one move possible from the point selected, the computer will move the checker for you automatically without dragging.
More than 5 checkers on a point will be represented by numerals printed on top of the checkers.
Notice how the dice fade after each portion of the move is completed. When doubles are rolled, one die will fade after two of the four moves are completed. In the picture below a four has already been used and a five remains to be played.
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Shortcut moves
There are shortcuts to speed up the game. If you find them confusing, just use the basic move until you are thoroughly familiar with the new moves. To use a shortcut, you must click on the border directly under the lower triangle or over the upper triangle that you wish to move to. There are three variations; each of which has a different priority level. Note: you may not always be able to use a shortcut depending upon position.
Priority 1: Move two checkers to the selected point. To activate during bear-off click under the bear-off tray.
Priority 2: Move one checker to the selected point.
Priority 3: Move one checker the full roll for non-doubles or part or all of the roll for doubles. If the move is ambiguous and a hit is possible, but not forced, it is best to use the basic move.
Double move
Holding down the Shift key while positioning the mouse over the checkers and clicking will move two checkers from the starting point.
Hitting
No special maneuvers are required. Just move your checkers as described above. If there happens to be an enemy blot encamped on the point that you are moving to, a "bonk" will sound, and the checker will automatically be sent to the Bar point.
Legal moves
There are certain basic constraints on how the checkers are moved.
1. You may not move to a point where there is more than one enemy checker.
2. You must move any checkers on the bar first. If that is not possible, your turn has ended.
3. You must take the maximum roll value possible. Let窶冱 say you roll a 5 4 and can move either a 5 or a 4, but not both. Then you must play the 5.
4. You may not bear checkers off until all your checkers are in their home board.
5. To remove a checker during bear-off, the checker must be on the point number corresponding to the number on the dice or the dice value must be greater than the highest checker in your home board.
Expert Backgammon will play forced moves from the bar for you. If after rolling, no legal moves are possible, both dice will fade.
Attempting an illegal play will call up a dialog window reminding you to take the largest possible move.
Speed of play
After rolling the dice, the watch icon will appear letting you know that the computer is 窶徼hinking窶. As this is the most sophisticated commercial backgammon algorithm ever developed, it takes some time to look at all of the possibilities. Computing time is affected by several factors:
1. The type of processor and clock speed of your computer.
2. The level of play chosen. The lower the level the more variables that are evaluated which increases processing time.
3. Rolling doubles. As there are significantly more variations with doubles, it may take up to 6 times longer to evaluate a position than with non-doubles.
