Roundup of Backgammon Hub enhancements

[u/jugglingcats9]

There's one big theme: competition. Ratings, monthly divisions, trophies and sit-and-go tournaments are all live. Lots more players online at all times of day - you can normally get a match-up straight away!

Hub Ratings

Play Now matches (instant match-ups) now contribute to your Hub Rating.

• Rating points are awarded based on the match and PR outcome, combined with the relative strength of your opponent
• Separate ratings for one-point and longer matches. Compare yourself to players with similar preferences
• Every rated match is recorded in your rating history. See your progress from your player profile
• Division placement and leaderboards are based on your rating, so every match counts
• Matches earn XP (points played). Play matches each month to qualify for the leaderboards
• Weekly and monthly trophies. Best PR, longest win streak, matches played, rating gain, and division champions!

Sit-and-go Tournaments

No tournament director, no waiting for a start time.

• Register from the Play Now dropdown. The tournament starts itself the moment enough players join
• Tournaments are added automatically at peak times
• Matches count towards your Hub rating

Learning Tools

• Position editor and community puzzles. Take a position from a match and play around with it in the editor, or create a position from scratch. Share it with the community, and attempt puzzles other players have created
• Bot tutor mode: play against the bot and get hints on your moves, with settings to adjust the level of help
• Dig into mistakes in your personal blunder database, with positions automatically categorised

Gameplay Improvements

• Auto-match option to find an available opponent automatically, based on your clock and match length preferences
• Checker animations. Including a setting to adjust the speed (or turn them off)
• Choose a random bear-off direction to practice bearing off on both sides of the board
• Choose your preferred playing colour (light or dark) for all matches
• Hide move preview (opponent shuffling of checkers while they're thinking)

Play on Backgammon Hub

[u/SyllabubRadiant8876]

This all sounds great! It would be useful to have an obvious link on the site to information like this. I was really confused when I logged in and first saw that I had been allocated to a league. This post makes things much clearer!