I am indebted to my colleague, Paul Lamford, for showing me this position.
I have written before about Bray’s Principle which says that in such positions you should not mind giving
Bray's Learning Curve
Each week, author Chris Bray lends his sharp insight and easy-to-understand analysis to help you improve your game.
Chris is the author of multiple backgammon books, including Backgammon for Dummies, and is the backgammon columnist for The Times of London.
A New Puzzle Every Week
Every Monday Chris posts an interesting backgammon position on our Facebook page. We encourage you to join in the lively discussion and return here to our website on Tuesdays to read his extended analysis.
Bray’s Learning Curve in-depth analysis is one of the great benefits of a USBGF membership.
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I love this problem because I have 100% record with it. Nobody I have given it you has ever got the right solution.
We are taught that the 5-pt is the most important point on the board and
I hope you considered hitting with 22/16* and then swiftly rejected it. The last thing Red wants to do here is lose a gammon. Losing a single game is of little consequence because White
After the forced bar/23* Red has the choice of (a) 23/20; (b) 13/10 (c) 8/5.
The worst place for a single checker in your opponent’s home board is on the 23-pt because its sixes are blocked.
This position came up in a chouette at the London Open this last weekend and caused a heated debate with arguments put forward for all the plays listed in the rollout. In the end the captain
Despite the attraction of triplicating threes with 21/15, 5/4 that play should be ignored. As Paul Magriel would say, that is duplication for duplication’s sake.
Red should also
It is interesting that my doubling problems always get a much poorer response than my checker play problems. Is doubling really that much more difficult?
The correct way to approach
This one is ever so easy to get wrong over the board. Making the 4-pt seems obvious but when your opponent holds your 3-pt the best blocking point for you to own is your 9-pt.
9/4, 8/4 makes