Backgammon Problems: Early Game

Off to an Early Lead

Nov 15, 2020 | Backgammon Problems: Early Game

White is off to a good start in this position. He’s neatly filled in his 3, 4, and 5-points, making a strong home board. Black has only managed to escape one back checker, getting it as far as his 8-point.

Money game, center cube, White on roll.

(a) Should White double? If he does, should Black take?

(b) Assume White doubles and Black takes. How should White play the following rolls:

6-6
4-4
2-2
6-4
6-2
4-3

Playing a Random 6 from the Bar

Dec 3, 2019 | Backgammon Problems: Early Game

White – Pips 168 (=)

Black – Pips 168 (=)
Black to Play 6-2
This position shows a typically awkward moment in the early game. Black’s game is temporarily a little loose, 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.

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.