Grant's Puzzles - Backgammon Position of the Week

 How should White play 64 here: With the security of your 5 prime, you could hit 11/1*: But you do not want to be hit from the bar by Black. If Black just enters on your 2 point, they will be in a good position because they can escape with a 6, so you will be forced to attack, and they do have a 5 point board. You could play safe with 11/5 8/4: If you roll 52, 51 or 21, your position next turn will be very awkward. The other problem is that you have given up your outfield presence. If Black does escape into the outfield, you will have no checkers in the outfield to attack their escaping checker. Making a 6 prime should win the game for you, so you consider 8/2 11/7: If Black does not hit you, and you cover the blot on your 2 point, creating a 6 prime, then the game should be won. Unfortunately, on 11 rolls, Black will roll that 1. You will then be on the bar, with Black at the edge of your prime and able to escape with any 6. Consider 21/15 21/17: Now if Black hits you wi...

 How should White play 43 here: After the roll you will be ahead in the race by 34 pips and have fully escaped your back checkers, so your first thought is just to play safe with 10/7 10/6: But how safe is this move? Gaps directly in front of your opponent’s anchors, can be extraordinarily treacherous and dangerous. Rolls like an immediately 64 play awkwardly. You will not have much time to make your 4 point naturally, as you have 2 checkers out of play on your 2 point which is behind Blacks anchor. Consider making your 4 point now with 8/4 7/4: This gives you a 4 point board and a 4 prime in front of Blacks anchor. You have your 8 point slotted and are threatening to make a 5 prime. Even if you are hit here, you will have many return shots from the bar and now you will have a stronger board than Black. Because Black’s board is only a 3 point board, you will re-enter after being hit with 27 rolls or 75% of the time. All these factors combine to making this the correct pla...

 Hi Everyone, I will be on holiday tomorrow, off the grid without internet access, so there will not be a Position of the Week, this week. I hope this year has been a great one for you, and that next year will be even better.

 How should White play 63 here: You can play completely safe here, by playing 10/1: Some unknown wise person said “sometimes the greatest risk of all, is to take no risk”. This move may seem safe but by next roll Black will probably have covered the blot on their 2 point and it will be much more risky to leave your 20 point anchor. If you roll 33, 32, 31 or 11, you will damage your prime next roll. Consider 20/11: Black has no active builders above your blot on the 20 point. An active builder is a checker that can be used to hit or make a point without it giving up the point is on. Here if Black hits from the 8 or 7 points they will have to give up that point unless they roll 22 or 11. It is a good time to run because Black has the blot on their 2 point. However, this roll leaves three blots around the board, so that if things go wrong for you here as White, Black could end up putting all three of those checkers on the bar and winning more Gammons. It is good to leave Blacks ...

 How should White play 61 here: You are really glad that you rolled a hitting number here. First you consider hitting 14/8* and lifting 4/3: This looks safer, but is it? In his excellent book “Modern Backgammon” by Bill Robertie, Bill gives the advice that you actually need to count the shots rather than just assuming one move is safer than the other. Here Black will hit you from the bar with 62, 61, 53, 51, 44 and 41 – 11 rolls or 31% of the time. You will have one black checker on the bar. Consider 14/8* 14/13*: Black will also hit you with 11 rolls here, but they will have two checkers on the bar, with you having a 3 point board with a fourth point slotted and a direct cover. If Black misses you, you will find it much easier to get both checkers home with black having two checkers having to come in from the bar. You will also win more games and more Gammons after this move. You should be more inclined to make the big play when your opponent owns the cube. You canno...

 How should White play 63 here: You are clearly the favourite here, and even if you choose the worst option of the ones I will consider, you will still wins 64% of the time with 32% Gammons. But do not be satisfied with second-best, you want to maximise your wins and gammon wins. You have 3 more inner board points then black, so you are not too worried about the blots that you leave around the board. Consider 13/4: This gives you 12 checkers in the zone, and prepares to attack Black’s rearmost blot. You will happily hit loose, even if your opponent makes another inner board point. The issue with this play is that you have very little chance of remaking your midpoint, and have therefore given up or reduced your amount of outfield control. Consider making your 18 point anchor with 24/18 13/10: You do not need to lock up an anchor here, you would rather keep your blot spread out and welcome a blot hitting contest as your board is so much stronger than Blacks. Anchors are goo...

 How should White play 32 here:  This is the position sent to me by Greg Ash. Greg suggested that I use it in the positions of the week, and I agreed and put it in the queue. On Wednesday last week it went to the top of the queue, as I learnt that Greg passed away. He was the past president of the Australian New Zealand backgammon Federation, and gave generously of his time for the promotion and benefit of backgammon. So, in honour of Greg, this position has moved to the top of the queue. You will be missed Greg. White is in the race to get all his checkers off before Black does, so considers playing 3/off 2/off: In order to compare the alternatives, we have to have some common currency to measure how good each alternative is. I would count the number of crossovers for either side for each alternative. It may not be the best alternative, but it works and is easy. A crossover is moving from one quadrant of your board to another, or entering from the bar, or bearing off one ...