This year, Prince Alexis Obolensky was elected to the American Backgammon Hall of Fame. (I always thought he should have been elected with the first class of inductees, but better late than never.) For those who aren’t familiar with Oby or his accomplishments, here’s a brief biographical sketch.
Backgammon Books
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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The Tempo Hit
In backgammon, most hits are done for one of two reasons: to gain ground in the race, or to attack a key point. A rarer, but still important use of the hit, is a defensive idea called the tempo play. Here the plan is to prevent your opponent from using his whole roll to do something good. By hitting (usually in your home board), you force him to spend half his roll coming in from the bar, so he’s not in position to do something devastating elsewhere on the board.
Consider All Possibilities
A lot of backgammon positions are pretty simple: the right play is either forced or completely obvious. Many others involve a clear decision between two very different alternatives. These problems may be hard to solve, but at least the choices are clear.
Some positions, however, involve a lot of possible plays, all of which are somewhat reasonable. These positions can be very tricky, and one of the dangers is overlooking the best play altogether while sorting through the wealth of possibilities. Be alert, and try to enumerate all the plays before starting to rank them.
Software Review: eXtreme Gammon
Some product reviews are hard to write. Do I like this product? Do I really like this product? Can I wholeheartedly recommend it, or do I have a few lingering reservations?
Fortunately, eXtreme Gammon (or ‘XG’ as it’s known in the backgammon world) presents no such problems. It’s the best backgammon software available, and if you’re a serious player (or aspire to be one) you have to have it. Period.
Bearing Off to Win a Gammon
Consider the following problem, which arose in a recent chouette:
Black – Pips 60
Black to Play 4-4
As the captain, I had a 4-4 to play. Three plays were possible.
The Backgammon Encyclopedia, Volume 2
The Gammon Press is pleased to announce the publication of Kit Woolsey’s new book, The Backgammon Encyclopedia, Volume 2. This new book builds on Kit’s work in Volume 1 by examining new doubling reference positions in these 10 categories:
1) Early Advantage
2) The Semi-Blitz
3) One Man Back
4) On the Bar
5) Containment
6) Hitting a Blot
7) Escape
8) Priming
9) Crunching
10) Racing
The Backgammon Encyclopedia, Volume 2 is available now. You can order it from the Backgammon Books section on this website. The price is $30 plus shipping.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 2.
