Gammon
                           ----------

Version : 1.3  (Release Date : 10.04.93)
Author  : Marc Fischlin
          Steigerwaldweg 6
          D-6450 Hanau 7 (from 01.07.93: D-63456 Hanau)
          Germany
Software: C - Lattice SAS-C-Compiler V5.10
Hardware: Amiga 2000B/ 68000er/ Kickstart V2.04

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"Gammon" is  copyright  1993  by  Marc  Fischlin. All rights
reserved. "Gammon" may  be  copied  and spread, if the whole
directory is copied, the  programs in this directory are not
manipulated and you do not gain any profit.

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Main menu:
Gammon is a computer version of  the famous backgammon game,
that can substitute up to two human players. "Save settings"
writes your favourite  settings  concerning colors, computer
opponent, starting position  etc.  to the file "Gammon.INI",
which will be read next  time  you start the programm. There
are  four  new  (improved ?!)  computer  opponents ("Random"
selects one  of  them  at  the  beginning  of  a  new game). 
"Aggressive" plays  a  more  risky  game,  while "Defensive"
tries to get all the stones home safely. "Blocking" tries to
build barriers and "Balanced"  plays  a mixture of the three 
above.
After having started a  game  with "Start game", you can end 
the game and return to  the  main  menu or directly quit the 
program. Use "Undo move"  to  reset  the position until your 
first move in that round.


Handling:
To move your  characters  simply  press  once  on the source
position (the number lightens)  and then on the destination.
The computer will  then  move  your character (if possible).
You may move your  character  both  dice (except for bearing
off) if  at  least  on  of  the  both  positions between are
"clean", that means that you can for example move a 5-3-move
in one step. If there is a  blot  the computer will not take
that stone off the board!!!
Press  again  on   the   source   to   cancel   your choice. 
Double-click  on  the  positions  in  your  inner  table  to
move your character out. To  move a character, that has been 
kicked off  by  your opponent, back into the game press once
on the destination  in your opponent's inner table. You pass
by clicking once on  the dice.  If you can move at least one
of your characters the computer will then tell you that move
he  considers  to  be  best  (so  it  may  help  you  in any 
position).


Strategy of the computer:
The computer distinguishes  between two possible situations:
(a) The characters of the players haven't yet been seperated
or (b) they have been seperated.  The computer then tries to
move all its characters  into  its area and to take them off
as fast as possible. In case (a) there are several points to
consider:  Don't  place  a  single  character,  take  off an
opponent's character,  don't  isolate your characters, build
barriers etc.


Programming the strategy of the computer:
The computer tries  all  possible  moves  and judges all the
positions. It e.g.  distinguishes  between  a 3-5-move and a
5-3-move, because  the  positions  after  the  moves  may be 
different (Think  of  a  single  opponent's  character three
places away!).  
case  of  doublets  there  is no exchange
between the values, nevertheless it may take some seconds as
the computer sometimes  judges  about  2000  positions. Some 
examples: 2106 position  for  a  pair  of threes, 2021 for a 
pair of twos, 1924 for a  pair  of  ones, 1834 for a pair of 
fives.


Laplace or not? :
You may sometimes  complain  about  a certain combination of 
dice appearing too often.  Here  are  the  results of a test 
with 960 dice:
(a) For the values from one to six, there were the following
possibilities  (according  to  Laplace it  should  always be 
P(X)=.166=16,6%):
      P(1)=.185,     P(2)=.178,      P(3)=.146, 
      P(4)=.152,     P(5)=.143,      P(6)=.196.
(b)  For  the  sums   (2,3,...,12)   in  comparison  to  the
statistic values:
      P( 2)=.0354 to .0278,     P( 3)=.0625 to .0555,
      P( 4)=.0916 to .0833,     P( 5)=.1042 to .1111,
      P( 6)=.1396 to .1388,     P( 7)=.1583 to .1666,
      P( 8)=.1188 to .1388,     P( 9)=.1104 to .1111,
      P(10)=.0916 to .0833,     P(11)=.0500 to .0555,
      P(12)=.0375 to .0278.
Almost Laplace, isn't it?




PS: Thanks to Robert Hofmann for his great support.



+++++++++++++ Also available for PC-Windows +++++++++++++++