USBGF - US Backgammon Federation
Growing backgammon. Serving players.
Congratulations to Martin Stemberka, winner of the Circuit Monthly for January, 2020. Martin defeated Art Benjamin in the 11-point final. Finishing 3/4 were Ted Chee and Michael Klein. See the latest Online Circuit Leader Board posting here. Any Circuit Monthly event is free and open to all USBGF members — including Premium, Youth, and Basic […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 61? XGID=aabBbBBBA–BbC–A–db-a—:1:-1:1:61:0:0:3:0:10 Back games are very difficult to play well. The bots have taught us much, but back games still account for the biggest checker play errors in backgammon, so we still have a long way to go to master them even reasonably well. Here White has a reasonably […]
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Congratulations to Kara Schultz, winner of the Advanced Divisional LXXXII. Kara defeated Sol Sassoon in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final were Anita Marholm and Matthew Brown. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. See current online standings: Leader […]
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Match Play. Red leads 2-0 to 7. Should Red double? If doubled, should White take? XGID=a–BB-B-Ba–dD—dAe-AA—:0:0:1:00:2:0:0:7:10 When looking at any match play problem you should first seek to determine what the correct action in a money game would be. Using PraT (Position, Race, Threat), this look to be a clear double. The race is equal […]
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Congratulations to Stefan Andreev, winner of the Advanced Divisional LXXXI. Stefan defeated Kara Schultz in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 were Richard Stubbe and Jasper Watertor. Registration to any Advanced Divisional is open to all USBGF Premium, Youth, and Basic members who have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 – 1649.99, at the time […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 32? XGID=-b—-E-CA–eD—aAc–b-bA:0:0:1:32:2:0:0:7:10 Early double fives blitzes are very common in backgammon, so it is useful to know how to handle them. For those interested in learning the correct doubling strategies I recommend buying Kit Woolsey’s Backgammon Encyclopaedia Volume 1. Unfortunately, it is currently out of print so you will […]
[Read More...]The U.S. Backgammon Federation is concerned for the health and safety of the backgammon community in light of the spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the U.S. Backgammon is by nature a mind-sport with close personal interaction and sharing of backgammon equipment. As such, tournaments pose special risks for contracting COVID-19. Backgammon players constantly weigh […]
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Congratulations to Shahrooz Moreh, winner of the Intermediate Divisional LXXV. Shahrooz defeated Harvey Jordan in the 13-point final match. Finishing 3/4 were Timothy Dugan and Keith Remels. Registration is open to all USBGF Premium, Youth, and Basic members who have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 or lower at the time of registration. To see […]
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Congratulations to John Manning, winner of the Masters Divisional C Online Circuit Event. John defeated Erwin Hom in the 21-point final. Finishing 3/4 were Roberto Litzenberger and Ruben Sineriz. Registration is open to all USBGF Premium, Youth, and Basic members and requires players have a Circuit Elo rating of 1650.00 or above, at the time […]
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Congratulations to David Parks, winner of USBGF Advanced Divisional LXX. David defeated Dennis Lutz in the 17-point final match. Finishing 3/4 were Patricia Johnson and James Schothorst. Registration is open to all USBGF Premium, Youth, and Basic members who have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 – 1649.99 at the time of registration. See the […]
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Money Game. How should Red play 31 XGID=-a-a-BD-B—dE—d-e—-B-:0:0:1:31:0:0:3:0:10 Red has opened with 31 (8/5, 6/5) and White has split her rear checkers with her responding 52. How should Red now play 31? Beginners know it is good both to split the rear checkers and create builders for new points and so they choose either 24/21, […]
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Congratulations to Cynthia Belonogoff who defeated Ama White Owl Khan and won the 17-point final of the USBGF Womens Monthly for February. Finishing 3/4 were Christa Solovey and Elizabeth Liberty. Entries are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis and all registered female members of the USBGF are eligible to enter this tournament. For more information […]
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Money Play. Should Red double? If doubled should White take? XGID=aB-Ba-CB-a–cBb—-cBbaaAA:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10 White has five blots and a fan at the wrong moment could easily result in the loss of a gammon. Crucially White does not have an anchor. All of this indicates that Red should be doubling despite being on the bar himself. What about […]
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Congratulations to Ali Shamsian, winner of the Intermediate Divisional LXXIV. Ali defeated Konstantin Keresteliev in the 13-point final. Sharooz Moreh and Vera Holley finished 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. See the current online tournament ratings […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 52? XGID=–aBBBBB—–AB-A—–A-h-:1:1:1:52:0:0:3:0:10 The bots have taught us a lot about containment. Before the early 1990s we really weren’t very good at containing hit checkers! Breaking primes to hit is seldom correct and that is the case here. With such superb outer board coverage Red should not hit with 7/2*. […]
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Congratulations to Leyla Zaloutskaya, winner of the January Womens Monthly. Leyla defeated Antoinette-Marie Williams in the 17 point final. Elizabeth Liberty and Ama White Owl Khan finished 3/4 in the 15 point semi-final round. The Womens Monthly tournament is open to all USBGF ladies. Entrants are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. See the latest […]
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Congratulations to Fabian Melnik, winner of the Advanced Divisional LXXIX. Fabian defeated Anthony Elliot in the 17-point final. David Staggs and Giancarlo Ratto finished 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 and 1649.99 at the time of registration. See current online standings: Leader Board.
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Money Play. Should Red redouble? If redoubled, should White take? XGID=-DA——————c-a–:1:1:1:00:0:0:3:0:10 When we study bear-off doubling we learn about ‘roll’ positions. A 3-roll vs 3-roll position with no misses is double/pass because the taking side has only just over 21% winning chances. We then learn to adjust for the actual position in front of us. […]
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Congratulations to Christa Solovey, winner of the December 2019 Womens Monthly. Christa defeated Anita Marholm in the 17 point final. Mary Morse and Eva Zizkova finished 3/4 in the 15 point semi-final round. The Womens Monthly tournament is open to all USBGF ladies. Entrants are accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. See the latest online […]
[Read More...]This is to announce a new auto-recurring payment option for individuals joining or renewing their membership in the U.S. Backgammon Federation. This option will be effective March 1, 2020 on the USBGF website. The new USBGF dues structure will be effective at the same time. Dues for those selecting the auto-recurring payment option are a […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 42? Match Play. Red leads 1-0 to 3. How should Red play 42? Both players have opened with a 52, played 24/22, 13/8. How should Red now play 42? The choices are simple: (a) 24/20, 22/20 or (b) 8/4, 6/4. For money it is close but that extra checker […]
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Congratulations to Richard Casten, winner of the Intermediate Divisional LXXIII. Richard defeated Calin Popescu in the 13-point final. Anna Popp and Vera Holley finished 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. See the current online tournament ratings […]
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Congratulations to Giancarlo Ratto, winner of the Advanced Divisional LXXVIII. Giancarlo defeated David Staggs in the 17-point final. Fabian Melnik and Devid Parks finished 3/4 in the 15-point semi-final. The Advanced Divisional requires players have a Circuit Elo rating between 1500.01 – 1649.99 at the time of registration. See current online standings: Leader Board.
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Money Play. How should Red play 11? XGID=-abaBBC-C–B-A—–bcdb-B-:1:-1:1:11:0:0:3:0:10 Note: For this and all future articles where the players are not specifically named Black will have a male persona and White will have a female persona. Small doubles nearly always generate a lot of possible move and hence are difficult to play. Add the complexity of […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 51? XGID=-aB–BDB-A–bBb—ccBbaa–:0:0:1:51:0:0:3:0:10 The two blots in White’s home board give Red the licence to make a bold play. The question is what is the right game plan? Red can attempt a blitz by hitting on the ace-point or play to prime White’s rear checker. For the blitz Red can […]
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Congratulations to Elizabeth Liberty, winner of the Intermediate Divisional LXXII. Elizabeth defeated Calin Popescu in the 13-point final. Harvey Jordan and Anna Popp finished 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. See the current online tournament ratings […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 64? XGID=aB-BBBD-A—b—-bbccB-b–:1:-1:1:64:0:0:1:0:10 A simple question: do you close the home board or run out with one checker to avoid crashing with small numbers on subsequent rolls? After 8/2, 6/2 Red is a favourite, just, to roll a 5 or a 6 next turn and solve the problems of the […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 64? XGID=-a—-EBBa–eD—c-e—-B-:0:0:1:64:0:0:1:0:10 This position arose last week in a consultation match between France and Rumania in the World Team Championships in Forges Les Eaux, France. Remarkably, the top five players in France managed to agree on the wrong play. You cannot learn all the correct third roll moves because […]
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Money Play. How should Red play 66? XGID=—cBBCBB—-B—–A-abbgA:1:-1:1:66:0:0:3:0:10 Whenever you roll a double it is always worth taking some extra time to think about how to play it as there will be multiple options. The double sixes in this week’s problem is a good demonstration of that principle. For the rollout I had to look […]
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Congratulations to Karl Sours, winner of the Intermediate Divisional LXII. Karl defeated Ali Shamsian in the 13-point final. Calin Popescu and Russell Kennedy finished 3/4 in the 11-point semi-final. The Intermediate Divisional requires players to have a Circuit Elo rating of 1500.00 and lower at the time of registration. See the current online tournament ratings […]
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