Quick Start Guide

The first thing you'll notice when you run GABBI is the grid of lines that appears when your mouse pointer passes over the board. The grid is not part of the diagram, but a guide to help you add/remove checkers. But before we get to that, try clicking some of the buttons at the top right of the screen. For examplechanges the board from anti-clockwise to clockwise orientation. Don't like the blue board ? Click on any of the boards to the left — you can change board styles at any time.

By default, the initial board displays the regular backgammon start position. For a really quick start, click thebutton then click anywhere on the board. If that doesn't get you going, read on...

• This utility will only work with the following browser/versions:
  Internet Explorer Version 7 or later: IE 7
  Mozilla browsers later than 1.1 (including Firefox): Firefox
  Opera version 7 or later: Opera
  Safari 2.0 or later: Safari
  Konqueror 3.5 or later: Konqueror
  Please contact me via the link at the bottom of this page if you use a browser that you think should work with GABBI.
  
• Each time you click on the board or one of the buttons, the page is redrawn. Please be patient. Do not double-click.
  
• You cannot move checkers by dragging them or clicking on them — moving checkers usually requires two operations, first to remove them from somewhere and then to place them somewhere else.
  
• Checkers are removed to the side trays. You can only add checkers if you have checkers available in the side trays.

Creating the board

You can add or remove checkers by clicking on the board in the position you want to change. Backgammon rules apply — maximum 15 checkers each side and checkers of opposing colours cannot occupy the same point.

Let's get started... in this first example, we will move two checkers from blue's midpoint (the 13 point) to the 14 point next door. These are just examples to help you get familiar with GABBI — feel free to experiment; you can always start again by clicking thebutton.

	Removing checkers In your GABBI window, single-click in the corresponding position to where the red arrow points in the diagram to the left. The board will be redrawn and two checkers will be removed from blue's stack on the 13 point. To remove just one checker, you'd click the next level down, where the fourth checker from the top is.
	Adding checkers Now click on the adjacent point (or any empty point where you want to place them). The two checkers you removed are placed where you click. You can click anywhere along the length of the point, and checkers will be placed to that level.
	Emptying a point Click on the half-squares that appear at the top and bottom of the grid (framing the point numbers), to remove all the checkers on that point.
	Adding more than 5 checkers Clicking on the half-squares that appear in the middle of the board adds 5 checkers to the point. Click onthen add three checkers to the 13 point. Now click on the half-square as indicated. Use this method to create any number of checkers on a point. Click it again, to create 13 checkers...
	Changing turn So far, so good, but what happens when you want to add some white checkers ? Click onthen click on an empty point. Note: the effective "turn" changes automatically once all checkers for a particular colour have been placed, so you don't need to keep swapping turns if you're creating a board from scratch.
	Checkers on the bar The bar is an unusual case in that it is the only point which can have checkers of both sides occupying it. The mechanism to add or remove checkers on the bar remains the same; however, the placement of those checkers may be confusing as they are placed nearest the quadrant where they are to re-enter.

Adding match information

That's about it for the mechanics of creating the board itself. Now all you need to do is add some match information such as the location and value of the cube, the dice rolled (if applicable) and whether it's a money or match scenario. You achieve this by filling out the form to the right of the board. Once you have entered or selected the details you want, click on thebutton at the bottom. If you need to start again, click on.

Saving the diagram

Finally, when you're happy with your creation, click on thebutton at the bottom of the screen. If you check the "Save board as text" option, the page will extend (you may need to scroll down) with a text area containing the board. You can then cut and paste it into an email or newsgroup message. Otherwise, the page will extend to show you links that you can use to reference your board. For now, click on the line under the statement "Click here to open a new window containing your board: ". A new window will open with the image of the board you have created. If you wish to save this image to your computer, right-click on the board and use "Save Picture As..." to select a location to save it to. Alternatively you can reference the board by saving the url (perhaps as a bookmark); the board is always available on the GABBI server.

More help

Hopefully, this brief overview will get you up and running quickly with GABBI. Feel free to experiment! For more details on all of the features and functionality available, please select a Help topic from the menu at the left of this page. If all else fails...

Contact the author

© Simon Woodhead 2008-2010. All rights reserved.