Grant's Puzzles - Backgammon Position of the Week

 How should White play 63 here: Playing back games is never easy. This position illustrates a lot of good principles to keep in mind when you are playing a Backgame. Whatever you do you have to hit 8/5*, then you consider 21/15: After the roll you will still be behind in the race by 19 pips, so you should not abandon your 21 point. The first principle is when playing a Backgame, if mobility is not a problem, then keep all your Backgame anchors. Next, you consider 13/7 8/5*: This move leaves the most blots, but in back games sometimes it doesn’t matter how many blots you leave, as being hit can be helpful. But usually in a Backgame you want to keep your midpoint, if possible, Kit Woolsey has written an article about this. If you have your midpoint, you have a timing reservoir that helps you preserve your anchors and priming structure. Next, you consider 8/5* 9/3: This is getting close to the correct move, but in a Backgame, you want to play purely. This means you put your ch...

 How should White play 52 here: This position is from a class of problems that I call “which hit?”. You are in a great position where you get to choose which hit you want to make. First, you consider bar/23 13/8*: This brings another builder to bear on your open 4 and 2 points, but even if you end up hitting loose there, you do not have a close builder to cover with. It is good to slot your 8 point, but the downside of this play is that Black can hit you from the bar with 62 and 44. Because you are so far behind in the race, your 9 and 10 points have value as blocking points, and this move   take a builder past those points. Consider bar/20 13/11* You now have 3 builders for your 10, 9 and 8 points. Your 9 and 10 points are valuable because they will block Black’s rear most checker directly if Black enters on your 4 point. Even just making your 11, 10 or nine points has value because Black can no longer hit you on those points and when they run, you can hit them from t...

 How should White play 41 here: When your opponent has a 5 prime, you really want to get to the edge of it, particularly if the sixth point is slotted. Because of this, you consider 5/1 24/23: But what is Black likely to do here? Unless Black rolls 65 or 55 and puts you on the bar, then Black will lift the checker on their 8 point and move checkers into the outfield. This will result in Black controlling the outfield, and you will have to try to escape into the outfield and then avoid being hit. That just sounds too hard and unlikely to succeed. Consider 5/1 9/8*: You do not get to the edge of the prime, but Black has a 69% chance of staying on the bar. All you will have to do is roll that 1 and get to the edge of the prime. Then you will be able to either wait until you roll a 6 and then give Black a tough double. It will usually be a double that they should pass, but you will get some takes. This is a tough position as it seems so obvious to get to the edge of the prime. ...

 How should White play 54 here: There are many rules of thumb in Backgammon. But there are exceptions to those rules of thumb. We talk about the exceptions a lot, but sometimes those simple rules of thumb work well for a position. This is one such position. The first move you consider is 15/11 8/3: The first rule you consider is – it is usually wrong to put checkers behind an anchor, especially a double anchor. This rule applies perfectly here, and you have stripped 2 points in your outfield. You should just follow the rule. Consider 15/11 13/8: The second rule you should consider is – when you are ahead in the race, you do not want to make a point 6 or 5 pips in front of an anchor. This is because the hardest anchor to clear is the one 6 pips in front of an anchor. A point 5 pips in front of an anchor is also hard to clear. After the roll you will be 33 pips ahead in the race, so you would want to dismantle anchors rather than make them. Consider 24/15: This leaves you 3...

 How should White play 33 here: Making a 5 prime will win a many games so you consider 13/7*(2): Stick Rice always tries to work out the DMP play and use that as a baseline. He then factors in the Gammons won or the Gammons lost, to decide if that alters the move. As a rule, priming tends to win more games, while blitzing tends to win more Gammons. This move does indeed win more games, but now Black has the chance to anchor, which means you will win fewer Gammons. The correct play is the blitzing alternative 8/2*(2): Now it is harder for Black to anchor on your 3 point, and less effective for Black to anchor on your 1 point. It will be easier for you to pick up a second checker, like the one on your 7 point. You have 3 builders aimed at your 3 point. You will also make your 3 point with 55. This gives you a 4 point board so that Black enters with fewer rolls, so you must win more Gammons. It can sometimes be very tough to decide whether to blitz or prime, especially in a ...

 How should White play 33 here: You need to ask yourself what your goal is here. Your goal should be to bring your checkers home without leaving any shots, building inner board points to give you more landing spaces. The first move to consider is clearing the rear most checker with 14/11(2) 6/3(2): This does make another inner board point, but it only gives you 2 points with spares on them. You really want to have 3 points with spares on them, and all of them aimed at your inner board. Consider 14/11(2) 13/10: Again, you have cleared your rear most point and created more landing spots for your checkers on your 13 point to move to. This is good, but you want to create a position with 3 points with spares on them. Consider 13/10(2) 6/3(2): With only 2 points with spares on them, this is like TMP (Two Many Points). TMP positions are very awkward, brittle, and inflexible. You end up making moves you do not want to make unless you are fortunate enough to roll more than one set of ...

 How should White play 54 here: Firstly, you consider the move that leaves the fewest shots; 16/7: But this leaves you only one builder to continue fighting for the gammon, and making the 7 point would be nice, but it is not very threatening. You have also diversified Black’s numbers, as they enter with any 5 or 4 and hit from those points with any 3 or 2. As you want to be able to continue blitzing, you consider 16/11 13/9: Black will still enter with any 5 or 4, and be able to hit with 6, 5 or 4. There is some slight duplication here, but not enough. You do not want to make your 11 point especially if Black ends up anchoring on your 5 point. If this happens, you will then have to clear your 11 point and the hardest point to clear is the one 6 pips away from an anchor. So do not start it in the first place. Note that this leaves 3 blots around the board. The correct move leaves 4 blots around the board. It is 13/9 13/8: Black will enter with any 5 or 4, and be able to hit ...

 How should White play 32 here: One of the principles that I teach to students is that 3 checkers on your 24 point is an unbelievably bad formation. Whatever you do here, you must move at least one checker from your 24 point. Consider 24/22 13/10: This enables your checker on your 22 point to see daylight and be able to jump Black’s prime with a 6. It also stays back on a point Black would less like to make. This move duplicates both Blacks 62 and 63 rolls. But you can do better, consider 24/21 24/22: This does give black a lot of pointing rolls, but if Black makes either their 4 or 3 points, you have a good chance to anchor on the point they didn’t make. But you can do even better, consider 24/21 6/4: Whenever I have a difficult move to make, I always check to see if there is any duplication. Here after 24/21 6/4, there is perfect duplication of 2s and 3s on both sides of the board. This move seeks to go forward and wins the most games and the most Gammons. It is the cor...