Backgammon Problems: Early Game

Hit loose or make an anchor?

Sep 1, 2019 | Backgammon Problems: Early Game

White – Pips 168 (=)

Black – Pips 168 (=)
A. Black to Play 3-2
In Position A, Black has two choices: he can enter and hit on the 5-point, or he can enter and make the anchor on the 22-point. To hit or not to hit: what’s right?

The 5-point is a strong point. In the abstract, it’s the best point there is, so hitting to make the 5-point later is often a good idea. But making an anchor is a good idea too, and very often correct. If we could only do one of these good things, we’d do it. But here we can do either but not both, so we have to pick and choose.

Backgammon Explained – Hit Loose or Make a Point?

May 15, 2019 | Backgammon Problems: Early Game

White – Pips 160 (+3)

Black – Pips 157 (-3)
Black to Play 4-2
This is a fairly simple, but extremely important problem. At first glance, Black seems to have a lot of reasonable choices. Here’s a quick list, with a brief description of why each play might be appealing:

When to Make an Early Double

Mar 1, 2019 | Backgammon Problems: Early Game

White – Pips 173 (+38)

Black – Pips 135 (-38)
Black on roll. Cube action?Proper doubles in the very early stages of the game are somewhat unusual. It takes some time to build an advantage strong enough to turn the cube. Most correct early doubles come from blitz positions, where one side rolls a quick double, makes a couple of inner-board points, and catches his opponent on the bar. Here the attacker gets enough gammon chances to compensate for the fact that he still doesn’t have a big positional edge.