Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

This position shows a position in the early game. White’s game is temporarily a little awkward, and now he throws a 2-6 from the bar.

Sometimes a six from the bar will allow us to do something obvious and good, like hitting a blot or building a point. When we can’t do anything good, we’re usually faced with a choice among several unappetizing alternatives. That’s the case here. We have four legal sixes: 8/2, 13/7, 21/15, and 22/16. None look great, but we have to pick one. Let’s set up some guidelines and see if they can lead us to the least unappealing six.

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Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

Often in the opening you’ll escape one of your two back checkers, and then find yourself in a type of position we call “One Man Back”. These positions can be tricky. If you roll a big number, should you make a bid for escaping and run the last checker out, or leave him back and make some sort of building play on your side of the board?

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Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.

We sell a lot of books at the Gammon Press and the most popular books right now are a three-volume set called “How to Play the Opening in Backgammon”. The most common question I get asked about the set is “Why a 3-volume set just on the Opening? What about the other parts of the game?”

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