The Subtlety of Backgammon
Backgammon is hard. Small changes to a position can make a big difference to what the correct play is.
Money Play. White to play 42.
In the position above the correct play is 4/off 5/3*.
White cannot afford to let Black escape with Black so far ahead in the race.
Money Play. White to play 42.
The position above is similar to our first position but now Black only has 5 checkers off rather than 7. This is a big change and now the correct play is the simple 4/off 2/off.
Money Play. White to play 42.
Here White should eschew the hit and make the rather timid-looking play of making the 4-point.
Money Play. White to play 42.
Here White has a stronger board and Black’s return hits from the bar are significantly reduced. White should play more boldly than in our original problem and the correct play is 13/11* 11/7.
Training Yourself
There are 18,528,584,051,601,162,496 distinct backgammon positions. It is not possible to remember them all. How then to improve when subtle changes can make a big difference to the correct play?
The most useful methodology I have found to train myself to notice and correctly account for positional changes is given below.
- First I review my matches and identify any big errors.
- Then I make a position card of each error and the correct play.
- Then I change each error position until the play that I thought was correct becomes correct.
- I then make a position card of the new position and the correct play.
- I also make position cards of any interesting or surprising variants I encounter through this process.
- I review the resulting position cards regularly.
There are many good online tools to help with this process. I use Cram.com. An example of one of my sets of cards can be viewed here: http://www.cram.com/flashcards/set-1-2477291.
In the first 2 examples where black is piled up 2 deep on his 1 point it is very hard to tell how many he has borne off. Could a number be superimposed on 1 pile or the other when this format is used?
Tony
Excellent article; excellent positions; excellent advice. The only thing I would add to Sean’s advice relative to the making of position cards is this: try to “group” the cards into type of position. Put bearing off positions in one pile, and bearing in positions in another pile, and blitzing plays in another, etc. etc. The more you group them and study them in an organized fashion, the more the plays become “thematic” and the easier they are to remember and apply over the board.