Grant's Puzzles - Backgammon Position of the Week

How should White play 42 here: My favourite form of backgammon is Speed Gammon, and I really look forward to when there will be an 11 point Speed Gammon event at a tournament that I attend. One of the nice things about Speed Gammon, is that good players do not have the time to do match equity calculations and the time does not drag. But one of the dangers of Speed Gammon is that it is too easy to make the move that looks right and not think about your move. Consider 8/4* 6/4: This is the sort of play that players make far too quickly when they play Speed Gammon or sometimes even normal backgammon. Black will hit you from the bar with 65, 63, 62, 61, 54, 43, 42, 41, 55, 33, 22 or 11. That is 20 rolls or 56% of the time. Note that an entering 52 allows Black to enter and make their 11 point. I have also learned that I do not like to give my opponent a good 6 from the bar. Now consider the double hitting play of 6/2* 18/14*: Now you will be hit with any 4, of which there are 1...

 How should White play 51 here: Your checker on your 21 point, is on the next point Black would like to make. Some players underestimate the value of making your inner board points in order. Making your points in order gives you both priming and blitzing potential, with the ability to play either depending on how the game continues. Therefore, you really need to move 21/16 with the 5 and then decide how to play the 1. Consider 21/15: This escapes the checker on your 21 point as far as it can go and minimises Black’s shots. But what do you do for an encore? You have not improved your board, so if you are lucky, you may be able to use the checker on your 15 point to make another point in your outer board. That would be nice but not really menacing. Consider 21/16 24/23: This leaves more shots, but it does introduce another idea: duplicating Black’s hitting 4s. This also gives you good 5s and 6s, so it has diversified your good rolls if missed, but it has not really improved you...

 How should White play 63 here: There are many rules of thumb, sayings or Proverbs in backgammon. They can be extremely useful, but you must be aware of their limitations. Consider making another inner board point with 8/2* 5/2: “Attack one checker back, prime two or more” I have heard the saying many times, and this would indicate that you should make this move. You also have 11 checkers in the attack zone, which seems to indicate that this is the correct move. But if you look at what is likely to happen, you will be hit back immediately with 53 and 44. Black will partially escape with 64, 63 and 53. Black also has some very good entering rolls like 41, 31, 11 and 33. If Black makes their 7 point with 41, 31 or 11, then it could be very awkward for you to escape your 2 back checkers. The point is here that you have 2 back checkers but Black only has 1 back checker. You are behind in the race, so that would indicate that your best game plan should be priming, so you consider ...

 How should White play 54 here: You notice that Black needs 4s and 2s to cover the blot on their 4 point, so you duplicate their 2s and make a point by playing 9/4 8/4: I am a big fan of duplication, especially when I must make a bad move but sometimes it is not the most key factor. Here you do not want Black to make their 18 point as it will exert pressure on your 13 point until you clear it. Black will make their 18 point with any 5 as well as by rolling 41 or 32 – that is 15 rolls or 42% of the time. You start looking at the alternatives, and decide to try 13/9 6/1 which preserves your 11 pip lead: Although this gives you a flexible position to start making points next roll, it also leaves 15 rolls or 42% of the time that Black will be able to anchor on their 18 point. You need to disrupt their ability to anchor on the 18 point or at least limit the number of rolls they can anchor with. Consider 13/8 6/2*: Now Black can only make the 18 point with 61, 52 or 43 – 6 rolls or...

 How should White play 21 here: It is good to make points in your outfield so you consider 13/10: Although this move tidies up a blot, it fails to do anything about Black’s threat on their side of the board. In his book “Backgammon Opening Concepts”, Michy said that attacking with 10 checkers in the zone is strong, but attacking with 8 checkers in the zone is weak. Nine checkers in the zone falls somewhere in the middle, but I believe that when your opponent has 9 checkers in the zone it is good to anchor up. Here you need to anchor up 24/22, and playing 13/10 ignores the need to anchor. Consider 24/22 10/9: Moving 10/9 means that Black no longer hits you with as many rolls. Although it is nice to be hit with fewer rolls, this does nothing about increasing your advantage, namely building a stronger board. Consider the correct 24/22 6/5: If you are hit, you will have an anchor and return shots from the bar. If you are missed, then you will have your 5 point slotted and yo...

 How should White play 42 here: The first move you consider is 15/13 15/11: In his excellent book “Backgammon Boot Camp”, Walter Trice recommends that if you are not sure what to do, simply picking up the rear most checker and moving forward is a good option. However, here it is wrong. This move allows White to hit and cover the blot on their 2 point with 61 and 66 – 3 rolls or 8.3% of the time. The correct move is 15/11 13/11: This move also allows White to hit and cover their two point with 31 and 11, which is also 3 rolls. The difference is that now you keep your 11 point and the pressure on Black’s blot on your 5 point. If you do get into a blot hitting contest, you have 4 spare checkers aimed at your 5 point, the 2 spare on your 6 point and the 2 checkers on your 11 point. This move wins 3.5% more games and 1% more Gammons. This may not seem like much, but if you consistently make moves that win even a small percentage of the time more often, you will find yourself win...

 How should White play 65 here: The first move you consider is the completely safe 13/2: This may be completely safe for this roll, but creating 2 inner board blots gives Black a lot of freedom to clear their 15 point, leaving a blot if necessary. I always like to ask myself the question “how do I intend to win this game?.” This move lets you come second in a two-person game. To win this game, you will need to hit Black’s blot as you are so far behind in the race. Therefore, you need to maximise contact. Your board is as strong as Black’s, so you consider 23/18 13/7: If Black hits you loose by playing 13/7* as part of their roll, then you will hit them from the bar with 61, 52 and 51. That is 6 rolls or 17% of the time. This is a good move, but to quote Phil Simborg “good is the enemy of great” You can make a better play here, consider 23/17 13/8: If Black hits you loose by playing 13/8*, then you can hit them from the bar with 65, 62, 61 and 53. That is 8 rolls or 22% of the...

 How should White play 22 here: You have just rolled a great number, but you must be careful to play it correctly, as doubles give you so many choices of how to play. It is like you get to play two rolls in a row. First you consider 13/7 13/11: The problem with this play is that if black hits you by rolling a 6 or 33, not only do they hit you, but they also escape one of their checkers on their 23 point. They really need to escape a checker from the 23 point to give them enough timing and mobility, so you want to avoid moves that allow them to hit and escape. Also, black hits you with any 6, but this number is not duplicated. Consider 13/7 8/6: This is better because Black can no longer hit and escape with a checker from the 23 point. The problem with this play is that it is a priming move when after the roll you will be ahead in the race by 50 pips. Also, it can be hard to clear your 7 point when Black has your 2 point. Consider 13/11(2) 8/6 7/5: Now you have duplicated ...