Problem 1.
Black – Pips 162 (+6)
Black to Play 6-4
Black – Pips 150 (+14)
Black to Play 6-4
Which Point to Make – Part 2
Black – Pips 162 (+6)
Black to Play 6-4
Black – Pips 150 (+14)
Black to Play 6-4
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Bill Robertie
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Black – Pips 162 (+6)
Black to Play 6-4
Black – Pips 150 (+14)
Black to Play 6-4
Which Point to Make?
Here are two early game positions where Black doesn’t have much and White has an inner point and some pressure.
Problem 1:
Black – Pips 160 (+8)
Black to Play 3-1
Black – Pips 160 (+10)
Black to Play 4-2
Leave Your Anchor or Not?
Black – Pips 99 (-6)
Black to Play 5-2
Bearing in Against the Ace-Point
When bearing in against an ace-point or other low anchor game, you generally have two goals in mind. The first is safety; you want to create formations that are less likely to leave blots as you bear off. The second is winning a gammon; you’d like to maximize your gammon chances if you can.
It’s usually good practice to look at the gammon chances first. If your gammon chances are either very large or very small, then it’s not likely that any play you make will affect them enough to matter. In those situations, you just make the long-run safe play, whatever that might be. But if the gammon is up for grabs (which in practice means gammon chances in the 15% to 40% range) then you may need to look for riskier plays which win more gammons at the cost of some extra losing chances. Typically, these plays involve piling checkers on the 6-point and 5-point, hoping to hold the prime as long as possible, or bearing off checkers rather than clearing a point.
Handling 6-Primes
A full six-prime is the most powerful formation in backgammon. A checker trapped behind a six-point prime can’t escape. To win, the trapped player has to somehow force his opponent to break his prime.
Although building a full prime is the strategic goal in many positions, we don’t actually see too many six-primes over the board. Often, the mere threat of making a six-prime will force a double and a drop. Although six-primes aren’t common, they are governed by their own set of strategic principles. Let’s take a look at a few.
Playing Efficiently
Black – Pips 150 (+13)
Black to Play 4-1
