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A practical way to become a winner at backgammon is to glean instruction from the best players. Some of the backgammon world’s highest awards have written books to assist players both novice and advanced.

A good book by a backgammon expert can provide game-changing information at a reasonable price which players (and would-be players) can absorb at their own pace. The Gammon Press store stocks essential reads by Bill Robertie and Kit Woolsey, along with the works of Bob Wachtel, Peter Bell and others. If you want to improve your backgammon game, this is the place to start.

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Backgammon Explained – Hit Loose or Make a Point?

May 15, 2019 |

White – Pips 160 (+3)

Black – Pips 157 (-3)
Black to Play 4-2

This is a fairly simple, but extremely important problem. At first glance, Black seems to have a lot of reasonable choices. Here’s a quick list, with a brief description of why each play might be appealing:

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Middle Game Maneuvering

May 1, 2019 |

White – Pips 143 (-53)

Black – Pips 196 (+53)
Black to Play 3-2

This position is taken from a game which began with a lot of hitting, but not much point-making. Both sides have now secured good anchors; Black also has the 22-point, so he has the making of a strong holding game. Each side has managed to add one outside point along the way. Black has his bar-point, while White has his 9-point. For good measure, White has built a 53-pip lead in the race.

What are the game plans going forward? White’s is pretty simple. He probably won’t be able to build an effective prime, so he needs to capitalize on his racing lead by scrambling his back checkers home, and the sooner the better. He’ll want to start with the checker on his 24-point, and then follow with the checkers on his 20-point. He’s not averse to building the low points in his board; the spares on his 6, 8, and 9-points don’t really have anywhere else to go, and a strong board might help him if he can hit a lucky shot.

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How to Play a Proto-Backgame

Apr 17, 2019 |

White – Pips 175 (-42)

Black – Pips 217 (+42)
Black to Play 6-2



This position is an example of what I like to call the proto-backgame. Both sides have been busy whacking each other for a while, with the result that Black now has seven men back, and White has three. Neither side has managed to make either a new home-board point or a new blocking point, so each side is free to maneuver, and the cost of getting another man hit is very small. Now Black has a 6-2 to play from the bar. Clearly he’ll come in with Bar/23, after which he can choose among five legal sixes, none of which are absurd. It’s a tough problem, to be sure.

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5-Prime versus 5-Prime

Apr 1, 2019 |

White – Pips 105 (-10)

Black – Pips 115 (+10)
Black to Play 2-1
This problem shows us one of the most interesting middle game positions possible: both sides have a 5-prime, and neither side has an anchor. The play will be razor-sharp, and gammons will be floating in the air for both Black and White.

What are the goals in these positions? Here’s what the players are trying to do, arranged roughly in order of importance:
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Gino Scalamandre – A Remembrance

Mar 16, 2019 |

Gino Scalamandre passed away last month at the age of 87. Gino was a member of the very first group of backgammon giants who dominated the game in the 1960s and 1970s, along with players like Tim Holland, Oswald Jacoby, and Joe Dwek. Gino was a fixture at all the big international tournaments of that era and won many. In the first ‘unofficial’ listing of the world’s best players in a 1972 issue of Harper’s, Gino was securely in the top 10.

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When to Make an Early Double

Mar 1, 2019 |

White – Pips 173 (+38)

Black – Pips 135 (-38)
Black on roll. Cube action?
Proper doubles in the very early stages of the game are somewhat unusual. It takes some time to build an advantage strong enough to turn the cube. Most correct early doubles come from blitz positions, where one side rolls a quick double, makes a couple of inner-board points, and catches his opponent on the bar. Here the attacker gets enough gammon chances to compensate for the fact that he still doesn’t have a big positional edge.

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