Money Play. How should Red play 53?

XGID=–a-BCB—A-bBb-Cc-dc-B—:1:1:1:53:0:0:3:0:10

One of backgammon’s more useful adages is this: “Prime an anchor, attack a lone rear checker.”

That instruction has stood the test of time and I have applied it countless times in my backgammon career.

It should be clear that this week’s position cries out for an attack on that rear White checker. Because it is alone it can never anchor so it will be subject to an attack until either it can escape, or the blitz succeeds.

Therefore, Red’s 3 must be played 5/2*. After that Red shouldn’t just safety the blot on the 10-pt with 10/5 but should maximise his coverage of the outer boards by playing 16/11. The halfway play of 10/2* is a blunder but the move played over the board, 16/13, 10/5, demonstrated a clear lack of understanding of one of the fundamental stratagems of backgammon, namely the adage at the head of the article.

How will Red plan to win after 16/13, 10/5? It certainly isn’t clear unless he gets very lucky. Meanwhile, 16/11, 5/2* gives a very clear path to victory and don’t forget Red owns the cube which hopefully he will get to use very efficiently.

So remember: “Prime an anchor, attack a lone rear checker”.

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take?

XGID=–CbBBC-B–A——beB-bbb-:0:0:1:00:0:0:1:0:10

 There is well-known saying in backgammon that all 3-pt holding games are takes.

This is not quite true, but it is an excellent guiding principle. Normally the player of the 3-pt holding game has both racing and hitting chances and is rarely primed to the point where he/she has to drop. Obviously, the player of the 3-pt game cannot be too far behind in the race so that catching up is nigh on impossible.

What about this week’s position? White leads by a small amount in the race but Red has nearly total control of the outer boards.  It is easy to foresee White’s position deteriorating quickly and a gammon being lost when he has to run off red’s 3-pt.

However, it hasn’t happened yet and for the moment White’s home board is as strong as Red’s. Red is certainly the favourite, but he doesn’t have any clear-cut threats and very few market-losing sequences.

Over the board Red doubled but in fact he is not strong enough to double and he should wait. If you put the two checkers on White’s bar-point out of play on his 1-pt although White gains 10 pips in the race his position is far weaker and Red now has a clear double.

Once again, the relative lack of volatility in the 3-pt game has been demonstrated. Red should bide his time and wait for his position to improve before doubling. Doubling here is actually a blunder and of course, White has a trivial take.

Rollout Data from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. How should Red play 63?

XGID=-b–B-D-B—cE—c-e–b-B-:0:0:1:63:0:0:3:0:10

Red started the game by rolling 42, making his 4-pt. White responded with 55, making his 3-pt. How should Red now play 63?

I frequently see this type of position misplayed. White’s 55 has given him a lead in the race but a slightly overextended structure. The one thing that Red should not do is to split his rear checkers. This gives White attacking options that he doesn’t deserve. Red should (at least for now) play a priming game.

The best move is 13/10, 13/7. Only very slightly weaker is 13/4 which is safer but does less to develop Red’s position.

The two really bad moves are 24/15 and 24/18, 13/10 because they are anti-thematic, allowing White an attack.

This position is but one example of the strategy of playing a priming game when your opponent has rolled an early double fives. It is a strategy that is worth remembering.

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take? 

Match Play. 0-1 to 3. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take?

XGID=-BBB–CA—-A—-aBacbcBe-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

This position came up at a tournament at the Hurlingham Club. I was White and had just rolled a very unfortunate 61, played 14/8, 6/5.

My opponent enthusiastically doubled, no doubt with a vision of a gammon in his mind. Although you will get some passes in positions like this it is still virtually a blunder to double. Red has too much work still to do, always assuming he hits at least one blot on his first roll. With two open home-board points and a lot of freight to shift (checkers to move) around the board Red should hold the cube.

Even if he closes out both White checkers he will only win a gammon 40% of the time. And, of course, he only has 27 hits initially. On the nine misses he will nearly certainly lose the game and the match. Red does much better to hold the cube and double when White has a much more difficult decision.

If Red hits one checker and White fans that is the time to double. Even then White will still have a comfortable take.

For money it should be clear that if Red doubles, White should beaver. Doubling would be a truly horrendous blunder. Red gives up nearly a full point of equity by doubling!

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

Money

Match

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Money Play. How should Red play 41?

XGID=–aB–DCB—bB—bde-B-a–:0:0:1:41:0:0:3:0:10

 Just making moves is never a good idea. You should always have a game plan. That plan is subject to change according to the vagaries of the dice, but any plan is better than no plan.

This is an apparently simple position and many would follow the known tactic in such positions of attacking the lone checker by playing 7/2*. Alternatively, Red could try to prime that rear White checker by playing 13/9, 6/5 although some may consider that too bold.

However, most of Red’s checkers are well-placed and that suggests a third game plan. That plan is to leave with one of the rear checkers despite being behind in the race by moving 21/16.

This play keeps all the other checkers doing good work. In addition, White has a blot in his home board which gives Red tactical opportunities. Finally, 21/16 creates meaningful duplication of White’s fours.

Is all that enough to make running the right game plan? Not quite. It turns out that both running and priming are valid game plans while hitting is not. It is not unusual in the middle game to have two valid plans.

The key here is to consider all three game plans and then choose between them. Sometimes you will make the wrong choice, but backgammon is too difficult to be right all the time. But has often been said before – if you don’t even see a move as a viable alternative then you will never play it!

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. How should Red play 54?

XGID=-B-B-CBbB—-B–bbbbBcaa–:0:0:1:54:0:0:3:0:10

Over the years I have learnt to be very circumspect about giving up anchors. The conditions have to be right to give up such a strong asset. However, there are times when giving up the anchor is correct. Let us look at this week’s position.

Red has the choice between (a) 8/4, 8/3 (b) 20/11 (c) 13/4 and (d) 13/9, 13/8. Red is stripped on all his outer board points and something has to give. (a) is the wrong idea – it takes checkers beyond where they want to go and Red may have even worse problems next turn.

If Red is going to give up his mid-point it seems logical to leave minimum shots and so 13/9, 13/8 must be better than 13/4. But, should Red risk departing from the anchor with (b)? He will have only a marginal lead in the race after the play so that argues for staying. White has two blots in his home board while Red has a four-point home board so that argues for going. Staying will also strand those rear checkers. Finally (b) creates meaningful duplication of White’s fours.

It is hard to balance these conflicting priorities without a lot of experience but in this position the positives for leaving the anchor outweigh the negatives and Red should play 20/11. I got this right over the board, but my opponent rolled 33. Backgammon can be a cruel game.

The lesson is that conditions have to be just right to give up an anchor. In this position those conditions exist but I’ve seen many an anchor given up prematurely. Take care!

Rollout Data from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. How should Red play 41?

XGID=aBCCBBB———aa-bcbbba-:1:-1:1:41:0:0:3:0:10

What could be easier than a simple bear-off? However, while there is still contact, there will always be an opportunity to make an error. I have seen many players get this position wrong.

Red has three choices: (a) 6/5, 6/2 (b) 5/4, 5/1 (c) 4/off, 4/3

Given this position as a problem many players choose (c) because then Red has only two bad numbers on his next turn, 62 and 26. (a) leaves nine bad numbers (66, 55, 44, 65, 56, 64, 46, 54, 45) and (b) leaves seven bad numbers (66, 55, 44, 61, 16, 51, 15). Thus, it would seem that (c) must be correct but that is not the case, because of the concept of extended jeopardy.

After 6/5, 6/2 if White enters with a six any jeopardy disappears. And Red’s problems are over. After either of the other plays the gap that is created by those plays may live for quite some time and, even if White enters into the gap from the bar, the point(s) above the gap must still subsequently be cleared. This is called extended jeopardy.

How does one weigh extended jeopardy against immediate jeopardy? The answer for most players is one of experience. I have seen this type of position many times and so I “know” the answer. The other answer is to use computers that can calculate this position exactly.

As you will see from the rollout (a) is correct. The extended jeopardy from the other two plays outweighs the immediate jeopardy of the extra shots. Note also that (a) wins more gammons because Red is able to keep a stronger home board for longer. The three plays are close in terms of equity, but it pays to get this type of position correct as it will reoccur frequently.

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

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(a) Money Play. Should Red redouble? If redoubled, should White take?

(b) Match Play. 0-0 to 7. Should Red redouble? If Redoubled, should White take?

XGID=aBCBcCD——-a–bbbbbA—:1:1:1:00:0:0:0:7:10

Whenever you face a match play doubling problem you should first consider the correct actions for money to give yourself a base.

In this week’s position I hope it is clear that this is a highly volatile situation. If Red rolls a six he will have lost his market by a huge margin. Red should redouble now.

Equally well, although it is scary because of the gammon losses, White has a very comfortable take because one bad roll by Red (55,44,22) could swing the game immediately and if Red fails to rolls a 6 and White immediately rolls a 4 (which happens 21% of the time), White will be very well placed with a redouble to 8 imminent. In addition, if Red doesn’t roll a 6 within three rolls his position will rapidly deteriorate anyway.

The match play situation is subtly different. If Red redoubles to 4 and wins a gammon, he will have won 8 points, one more than he needs. That is a warning sign that his redouble is not perfectly efficient.

In addition, if White takes and then turns the game round he will be able to give some very efficient redoubles to 8. If Red accepts the cube on 8, he can never subsequently win with another redouble and so the game must be played to the end – the cube will be valueless to Red. These are all indicators that Red should perhaps play on for a gammon with the cube on 2 and, if things go badly, he will probably only lose 2 points.

This is very difficult to judge over the board, but many will err on the side of caution, which turns out to be correct. However, this is a great practical redouble because you will get quite a few erroneous drops. Knowing your opponent is sometimes more valuable than knowing backgammon theory.

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

Money

Match

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Money Play. Should Red redouble? If redoubled, should White take? 

Match Play. 4-4 to 7. Should Red redouble? If redoubled, should White take? 

XGID=a-BBBBBA-A———-bccbC-:1:1:1:00:4:4:0:7:10

For money this would be a grossly premature redouble. White has already borne off four checkers so he would be close to a take even with his last checker closed out. Additionally, Red still has to escape three checkers from behind a four-point prime (look how 44 plays!). Finally, White will sometimes escape his rear checker and win a gammon – in fact that happens 10% of the time.

At this match score things are very different. If Red redoubles this effectively becomes Double Match Point. Gammons become irrelevant and White can never win the cube. White’s take point for the redouble is exactly 25%. Does that make enough of a difference to make this a redouble?

Yes, it does. The position is highly volatile. If Red escapes a checker and White stays on the bar (and that happen nearly 40% of the time) Red will have lost his market by a huge margin. Not redoubling is a bad blunder. White has an easy take because his winning chances are around 30%.

Never forget just how different match play doubling is compared to money play, especially towards the end of a match.

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. How should Red play 33?

XGID=-BbCBBB-B—dA-A-c-e-a—-:1:-1:1:33:0:0:3:0:10

 Over the board Red quickly played 13/1. Sadly, this play doesn’t meet the demands of the position.

Consider these factors:

• Red has already doubled and so must win with his play of the checkers.
• White’s position is virtually undeveloped.
• White will be loth to give up his anchor to hit when he has no home board.
• If Red leaves blots and is hit he will have a lot of return shots, many of which will lead to gammons.
• 13/1 puts a checker permanently out of play

All of the above clarify why it is right for Red to take some risk now, rather than wait while White develops his home board.

Red’s real choice is between 13/7, 8/5(2) and 13/4, 8/5. Not surprisingly the move that best distributes Rd’s checkers for return hits and for the bear-off is the winning play.

The correct move is 13/4, 8/5.

The key to the position is in understanding that now is precisely the right time to take a risk. Every move in the game is about risk and reward and learning how to balance those two things is the key to long-term winning backgammon.

Rollout Data from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take?

XGID=-C–B——————bd-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

 This is a basic technique for calculating that everybody needs to do. I believe it was first documented by Bill Robertie in his “Advanced Backgammon” and so it is known as Robertie’s Addition Method.

This looks like a three-roll ending which is known to be a double and a pass. White only wins a pure three roll position just under 22% of the time and so must pass. However, small details matter.

Look what happens if Red rolls 32 – he cannot bear off a checker. Red will roll 32 one time in eighteen, which equates to 5.5%. Once we add that 5.5% to the 22% for the basic three-roll ending then we get over 27% winning chances. What was thought to be a pass at first glance turns out to be a very easy take and passing would be a blunder. Often when you add up your ways to win in a position you can pass the 25% figure and find you have a take.

Over the years the Addition Method has helped me to make the correct decision hundreds of times.

Learn it and use it.

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

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Money Play. Should Red redouble? If redoubled, should White take?

XGID=a-BBBBC—-A—–AAdbdbbA-:1:1:1:00:0:0:1:0:10

 Once more we return to a Prime versus Prime problem. It is often said that all prime versus prime problems are doubles and takes. Is this the one that breaks that rule?

No, it is not, but it is still possible to make some big mistakes here. The position is hugely volatile and if Red rolls a six he will have lost market by a distance. He must redouble now to ensure the cube is on 4 when he wins a gammon (75% of his wins are gammons). It is a double blunder not to redouble here.

Many players of the Red checkers fail to redouble here because they fear crashing their home board. For them the glass is half-empty. In fact, Red will have to open two home board points (assuming White’s checkers remain on the bar) before White can redouble. The optimist, for whom the glass is half-full, redoubles immediately here.

What about the take? This is a very clear take, precisely because Red may crash his board. White will win 40% of the time from here, including 9% gammons. Dropping is nearly a triple blunder.

The key to the position is Red’s spare checker. Here Red has only 8 spare pips until he has to crash his board. If you move that checker around the board then then you get different answers to the doubling question. If you put the checker on the 13-pt then the answer is double/pass but on the 12-pt it is double/take.

Kit Woolsey analyses this type of position in his excellent “Backgammon Encyclopedia Volume 1”. It is currently out of print but if you ever get the chance to obtain a copy, do so without delay.

Rollout Information from Extreme Gammon

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Bray’s Learning Curve is a USBGF online series by author Chris Bray. Each week Chris lends his sharp insight and easy to understand analysis to help you improve your game. Visit the USBGF Facebook page every Monday to view an interesting backgammon position and join in the lively discussion, return on Tuesday to view the answer. In addition, as a USBGF member, you get access to this companion blog article that includes an expanded explanation.  More about Chris Bray