[pbmserv] Re: popularity of games

[Robert Barrell <games@rdbhn.org>]

Matt,

I'm not sure how far back the game records extend, but I recently added 
an SGF command to the game of Go so that it is now possible to get a Go 
game record that would be usable in programs such as cgoban, The Many 
Faces of Go, Vizigo, Pilotgone, and others:

go sgf gamenumber

If you will be making game records available, this could be useful for 
those who like to review their Go games.  I may add SGF for games like 
Chess (where SGF is sometimes also called PNG), Checkers, Backgammon, 
etc. at some point, but still need to learn a little more about those 
specific implementations.  Also, it would be handy to know what SGF 
viewers/editors people use for games other than Go, so I could have some 
on hand to test the SGF output.

> Morat wrote:
> Actually, nice serendipity (synchronicity?) that this issue comes up  
> now.  About a year ago (my how time flies) I released an initial  
> version of a web site that would display statistics about the games  
> on Richard's server (player ratings, number of games played, etc.)  
> and several of you sent me some good feedback.
>
> Well, I've finally had some time to revise things and am pretty close  
> to releasing the new version.  I've completely reworked how the  
> statistics are compiled and have something that I think is a little  
> more robust.  One thing I would like is to include info about as much  
> past history as possible (i.e. as many game records from completed  
> games as possible).  Given Richard's post (and my personal bias :) I  
> think I'll start out ignoring backgammon.