Bill Robertie’s Blog

Playing a Bad Back Game

Feb 1, 2020 | Backgammon Problems: Back Games

White – Pips 136 (-27)

Black – Pips 163 (+27)
Black to Play 5-4
Back games are, in my view, the most interesting category of backgammon positions. Obvious plays are often wrong and counter-intuitive plays abound. Some real insight and experience are often needed to find your way to the right play.

This position is not an especially difficult problem, although most players will get it right for the wrong reason.

Playability

Jan 15, 2020 | Backgammon Problems: Middle Game

White – Pips 123 (+7)

Black – Pips 116 (-7)
Black to Play 3-2
This position comes from the late middle game. White is on the bar without an anchor, falling behind in the race and in some danger of being closed out. Meanwhile Black has a couple of checkers stuck behind a 4-prime. Black needs to escape but he needs to close his board as well, so he’s under constant pressure each turn to get something done.

When to Break a 6-Prime

Jan 1, 2020 | Post-Ace-Point Games

White – Pips 32 (-96)

Black – Pips 128 (+96)
Black to Play 4-5In our blog post of November 15 we discussed the various stages of a containment game, and outlined some rules for guiding your play. Leading off the rules was an important one: Don’t break your 6-prime!

Running off an Anchor

Dec 16, 2019 | Backgammon Problems: Holding Game

White – Pips 67 (-22)

Black – Pips 89 (+22)
Black to Play 5-3
One-way holding games are, for the most part, pretty easy to play. You hold onto your anchor, watch your opponent try to clear points, wait for a shot, and then hopefully hit it. Alternatively, you roll a 6-6 or 5-5 somewhere in this process and move into a race where you’re close to even or maybe a little ahead.