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. 

Expert Backgammon Player and TeacherChris Bray Photo

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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Red needs to contain White’s rear checker. Clearly the three must be played 6/3*. The question is how to play the two?

Red has a lot of work to do yet to win from this position so we can quickly ignore the safest play of 16/13, 2/1. The question is which White blot should Red hit and how?

This is a very difficult back game problem and to solve it you need to work out the correct game plan for Red.

Backgammon is difficult for many reasons but one of them is that every play matters, and to play well you have to concentrate throughout the game.