Black – Pips 186 (+109)
Black to Play 6-2
Playing a Busted Back Game
Black – Pips 186 (+109)
Black to Play 6-2
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Backgammon Problems: Back Games
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Black – Pips 186 (+109)
Black to Play 6-2
Saving a Weak Back Game
Black – Pips 146 (+71)
Black to Play 4-4
Black has been playing a 1-5 back game (probably the weakest of all back game formations) and now faces a roll that messes up his plans even further. With a 4-4 to play, he has to sacrifice something. He can move off the 24-point, move off the 20-point with one or both men, or try to keep both back game points and play entirely on his side of the board. Nothing is really appetizing, but he needs to make the best of a bad situation.
How to Play a Proto-Backgame
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.
Attacking a Back Game
Black – Pips 123 (-83)
Black to Play 6-5
This problem is taken from a game in the Athens finals between Billy Horan and I in 1994. (Billy was White, I was Black.) The game was early in the match and the score wasn’t relevant, so I’ve recast it as a cash game position.
A Backgame Tactic
Black – Pips 186 (+109)
Black to Play 6-2
In this position, Black finds himself at the tail end of an ace-deuce back game. Things seemed promising for a while, then not so good, then downright awful. Now, with seven men trapped behind a full prime and his board almost completely shot, Black has a 6-2 to play.
