Grant's Puzzles - Backgammon Position of the Week

  How should White play 42 here: “if in doubt hit” is a common saying in backgammon, so you consider 8/6 8/4*: The problem with this play is that you leave 3 blots around the board and invite a blot hitting contest where Black has the stronger board. You will be hit with any 4 as well as 53, 33, 31 and 11. That is 17 rolls or 47% of time. How about hitting and lifting with 8/4*/2: Although you are hit with far fewer shots from the bar by Black, the game has a long way to go so you do not want to create a semi dead checker on your 2 point. And you will still have 3 blots around the board. You are behind in the race, but do you really want to hit? Consider tidying up some blots and minimising shots by playing 17/13 9/7: You will be behind in the race by 17 pips after the roll, but you leave only one blot. Black has two blots around the board and will need to do something about them, especially the blot on your 4 point. You will have 3 builders aimed at the blot on your 4 point if the...

 How should White play 65 here: After entering with the 5, you see that you can hit 13/7*: Although this leaves you ahead in the race, it also leaves you with 3 blots around the board and you have given up your midpoint. Losing your midpoint is very bad here, as you now have no bridge between your back checkers and your board checkers. Your midpoint is a long-term asset, giving it up for a short-term gain is not worth the loss. Consider bar/20 16/10: 16/10 leaves only one blot, but it leaves it in front of Black’s rear most checkers. Black would love to hit from either their 20 or 18 point (your 5 or 7 points) and move those checkers closer to home. Bill Robertie wrote in Modern Backgammon “apart from counting shots, you want to leave blots in front of points your opponent least wants to hit from”. This play does the opposite of that, and leaves the blot in front of the points Black most wants to hit from. Consider bar/14: Now you are leaving your blots so that they will be...

 How should White play 52 here: The play made over the board was 7/5 6/1: Sometimes when I watch other players, I have to move away from the board because my facial expression reveals what I think about a move. Although this is a safe move, that is not what you should be trying to do here. Stick Rice always told me to initially forget about the dice, even if I have to move them to the side of the board. Look at the position and try to figure out what you want to achieve. Here Black has 7 checkers off so you would really like to put both of Blacks checkers on the bar. How do you do this? Well firstly, you have to get them to move off their anchor, and do that as soon as possible. This means you have to maximise the number of rolls that make them give up their anchor – even if you get hit in the process. Black only has a one point board. Consider 6/1 3/1: Conservative players may dislike the fact that you will be hit with 20 Black rolls, but you should be happy if they hit yo...

 How should White play 65 here: You are very early in the game, and have to decide how to play the 65. A lot of players would just play 24/13: The good news is that you are ahead in the race by 9 pips after the roll. The bad news is you have over stacked your 13 point. Generally, you want to unstack points rather than over-stack them. In the opening position of Backgammon, you start with 2/3 of your checkers on the 13 and 6 points. One of the tasks you want to do in the opening is to unstack these 2 points. You have the much stronger board, so you can make a bold play. 24/13 is not a bold play so you consider 13/8 13/7: This move threatens to make a 5 prime, and put your opponent in serious trouble. The problem is the 14 rolls that hit you. 14 rolls is 39% of the time. You have the stronger board, so you want to use it to put pressure on Black. Consider 24/18 13/8: With your strong board you would welcome an exchange of hits. Even if Black rolled 41 here and played 11/7* 8/7: Y...

 How should White play 62 here: It is always good to so you consider the safest hitting play of 13/7*/5: Although this is the safest hitting play, you will still be hit by Black with 43, 42, 41, 44 and 22 which is 8 rolls or 22% of the time. After the roll you will be significantly ahead in the race, so you get your rear most checker moving, so you consider combining hitting and moving your back checker with 13/7* 24/22: Now you will be hit with 61, 54, 53, 52, 43, 42, 41, 32, 31, 44, 33 and 22, which is 21 rolls or 58% of the time. Here being hit 58% of the time is just too much. Although it is nice to hit Black’s checker, consider 24/16: When you consider what your game plan is, you really just want to escape your back checker and get home safely. After the roll you will be ahead in the race by 17 pips. Black will hit you with any 4 as well as 31, 22 and 62 but the 4’s are duplicated to hit and make Black’s 18 point. This means that you are not giving Black a good 4, they a...

 How should White play 43 here: 43 was not the roll that you were hoping for, but it was the roll that you got, so you need to work out the best way to play it. Years ago, I remember reading in a backgammon book that “anyone can play the good rolls, but the mark of a good player is that they play the bad rolls well”. You could just minimise shots and blots by playing 13/6: Unfortunately, this move gives up all outfield control. Eventually you will have to run your checkers on your 24 point into the outfield, and this will be dangerous to do if Black has spread their checkers out in the outfield. You consider splitting a checker off your 24 point with 24/21 7/3: This move leaves 5 blots around the board. Every quadrant has a blot on it. While it is good to not have 3 checkers on your 24 point, this move is just too dangerous. This is the correct move at DMP (Double Match point) where Gammons won or lost do not matter. Consider 8/5 7/3: This move minimises the number of blots t...

 How should White play 53 here: After entering bar/22, you could try saving a 6 by playing 6/1: But you should reject this play as it weakens your board too much. You are unlikely to win the race here, so you must plan on hitting a black checker and then containing it. Giving up your 6 point means that even if you hit a shot, you might not be able to remake your 6 point and then it will be very difficult to contain Black’s checker. If you are going to play safe, the move you should make is bar/22 7/2: But this move only gives Black 3 bad rolls – 55 and 64. You will still have some indirect shots on some of Blacks other rolls, but playing safe only wins 15% of games. Consider bar/17: The bad news is you will be hit with 15 rolls, including 55 which was a bad roll for Black after bar/22 7/2. The good news is that 5 rolls that only left an indirect shot after bar/22 7/2, now give you a direct shot. Also note that 42 for Black only left an indirect shot after bar/22 7/2, now...