Game Play
Early users connected to FIBS via a command line interface through TELNET similar to a MUD, with the standard backgammon board drawn in ASCII text. Dice rolls are represented numerically and moves are performed by entering starting and ending point numbers, similar to standard backgammon notation. Other game related commands are available by typing the appropriate command. The first graphical user interfaces for FIBS were developed in 1994; FIBS/W for Windows and MacFIBS for Mac OS. Graphical interfaces continue to be developed for most major computing platforms, including mobile phones and tablets, however telnet remains the underlying protocol for FIBS. This allows anyone with access to the Internet to log into FIBS regardless of platform.
Bots have been developed, some based on neural net programs like gnubg, JellyFish, TD-Gammon, and Snowie, to allow human players to compete with these computer programs on FIBS and to analyze these programs' performance in real-world play. This is one way FIBS has served as an experimental platform for the advancement of computer science and continues to do so.
The server provided the first opportunity for backgammon players to be rated on the Elo rating system first devised for chess. The server has been used for testing artificial intelligence concepts using the backgammon bot LGammon, written by Mark Land of the University of California, San Diego.
Read more about this topic: First Internet Backgammon Server
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