Grant's Puzzles - Backgammon Position of the Week

 How should White play 31 here: The 3 must be played bar/22*, then you must decide on how to play the 1. The best play that leaves the blot on your 8 point is 6/5: It is said that you should make the big play when your opponent is on the bar. While this can be true, you still must consider the number of shots Black has from the bar. Here Black will hit you from the bar with 62, 54, 53, 52, 51 and 44. That is 11 rolls or 31% of the time. While the blot on your 8 point gives you a lot more attacking potential if you are missed, the probability of being hit is just too high. Consider the correct bar/22* 8/7: You are stacked on your 6 point, but you are not committed to having to tidy up any blots on your side of the board, so you can concentrate on your highest priority – escaping your back checkers before Black improves their prime. Many times, in backgammon you will have conflicting priorities, sometimes like here just identifying that your highest priority is to get your back check...

 How should White play 61 here: “If in doubt, make the 5 point” is a saying that has been proved correct many times. So here the first move that you should consider is 11/5 6/5: Although the 3 point board looks very strong, this position looks stiff and inflexible. You only have 2 builders for your 7 point. Your 13 and 8 point looks stacked compared to your flat 6, 5 and 4 points. All your spares are on two points. This position just looks ugly. Compare this to the correct move of 13/7 8/7: Now you have 3 builders to make your 5 point and give you a 5 prime. You have spare checkers on your 13, 11, 8 and 6 points. This position is very flexible, and you will have no trouble making additional points. This position looks pleasing to the eye. I believe that the most important reason that making the 7 point is correct, is that after making the 5 point you have used your last spare on your 6 point. If we move a checker from the 8 point to the 6 point, this means that after you ...

 How should White play 64 here: Anchors are great, they protect you from being primed or blitzed. But at some point, you must leave an anchor – are we there yet? Consider running with both checkers from your 20 point anchor with 20/14 20/16: This would be good if you are missed, but you will be hit with any 1, 2 or 4. But if you are hit, unless you are hit with doubles, Black will not be making a new inner board point. Unfortunately, as you will be hit by 27 rolls, this move is just too big. Consider 20/10: Now at least one of your checkers will be hit in the outfield with 64, 63 or 54. You will be pointed on with 53, 51, 31, 44, 33 and 11. Any number that does not point on you or hit you in the outfield, that contains a 5, 3 or 1 will be used to hit loose on Blacks 5 point. That is a lot of numbers, and like 20/10, you lose the security of having the 20 point anchor. So maybe now is not the time to give up your anchor. Consider 13/3: Slotting into a double shot is rare, bu...

 How should White play 32 here:  You really wanted to roll a 2, and the good news is that you did. But that is only half of the roll, now you need to play the 3. You would like to improve your board, so you consider bar/23 8/5: This unstacks your heavy 8 point, slotting a point that you would really like to make. Black already hits you with any 5, 3 and now any 2. To be fair you were already going to be hit with 32, 21 and 22, so you have only added 6 more hitting 2s. 6 rolls is 17% of the time. You consider a play which minimises your additional hits, bar/23 11/8: You have only given Black one more hitting roll, a 62. But you have done nothing about taking the initiative away from Black, and Black will continue attacking, hitting loose if necessary. Another way to think about this, is to ask the question when looking at different candidate moves, “what am I hoping my opponent will roll here?” After this move, I have no idea what I am hoping for Black to roll next turn. ...

 How should White play 53 here: If you want to leave no blots, you could play 13/10 13/8: The issue with this play is that you have given up your outfield presence, making it so much harder for you to run your back checkers to safety. The 13 point is a good point to put fleeing checkers on. Losing control of the outfield will cause long-term problems. You would like to get an advanced anchor, so you consider that hit and split play of 24/21 6/1*: This does duplicate 1s to hit in two different places, but you will be hit somewhere with any 1 as well as 64, 44, 33 and 22. That is a total of 16 rolls or 44% of the time. That number is too high. Consider 8/3 6/3: This move retains your 13 point, so that in the future you will have a landing spot for your escaping back checkers. It gives you a much stronger board than Black, and if Black does not hit you, then you will have 4 builders for your 4 point and three builders for your 7 point. If Black does hit you, then you will have n...

 How should White play 54 here: After the roll you will be ahead in the race by 72 pips. I always encourage players to learn how to Pip count, as so many decisions are helped by knowing the pip count. Here just noticing that Black has 5 checkers back while you have zero checkers back should tell you that you are way ahead in the race. Because you are so far ahead in the race it is tempting just to play safe with 13/4: But you need to think about what will happen here. Black will enter and slowly improve their board. You want to clear your 13 point, and the best time to do that is before Black builds a board. That entitles us to make our risky play to achieve an advantage here. Also, the fact that Black is on the bar, means that you should be making a big play. The move made over the board, was the unstacking 13/8 13/9: Unfortunately, this creates a mini stack of 4 checkers on your 8 point. Even 13/4 is better than this move. It is good to unstack your 13 point, but this overd...

  How should White play 65 here: Your anchor offers you security, so it is understandable that you want to keep it and play 8/2 6/5: This gives you a 4 point board, and if you are missed and Black leaves their rear most checker on your 4 point, then you will have 3 builders ready to attack it next turn. Also, if you are missed, you may just make your 6 point. The problem with this play is that you are not considering your gameplan. After the roll you will be ahead in the race by 11 pips, meaning that you should be thinking of racing. This move risks being hit on your 6 point and losing your racing advantage. Eventually anchors must be broken, so you consider 20/15 8/2: You will be hit by 2s and 4s, but your 2s are duplicated to hit in two different places. Your board is stronger than your Black’s board and if only one of your checkers is hit, then you will enter on 27 rolls or 75% of the time. I always find myself getting in trouble when I do not do what the dice are tellin...

  How should White play 11 here: Black has 12 checkers in the attack zone, ready to make new points and put you on the bar. It is understandable that you would like the security of an anchor, so you consider 24/20: After the roll you will be behind in the race by 14 pips. Black will be threatening to escape on every roll an increase that race lead. If Black does run into the outfield, and is hit, then Black will enter with 32/36 rolls. For Black, the consequence of being hit in the outfield is just a minor inconvenience. You need to improve your board strength, so that if Black runs and is hit, there is more of a price to pay. Consider 8/7(2) 6/5(2): Now 64 and 62 for Black, no longer escape into the outfield. If Black does escape into the outfield, being hit will slow her down more because you now have a 3 point board rather than just a 2 point board. You are also threatening to make your slotted 8 point. Although Black can hit you, if Black hits you with any combination o...