public static boolean legitStartLoc( int pointNum, int playerColor ) {
        if ( ! legitPlayerColor(playerColor)) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("bad playerColor '" + playerColor + "'");
        }
        if ( (1 <= pointNum) && (pointNum <= howManyPoints) ) {
            return true;
        } else if (((playerColor == white ) && (pointNum == WHITE_BAR_LOC)) 
        || ((playerColor == black ) && (pointNum == BLACK_BAR_LOC))) {
            return true;
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    } // legitStartLoc( )