Position Analysis

By Robert Wachtel I got off to a better start in the consulting doubles event of the first Mallorca Backgammon Challenge, where I had cleverly chosen as a partner the fine German player Juergen Orlowski. There were only eight teams entered, so it was a matter of only two matches until we found ourselves in the final. Our opponents were two convivial Monte Carlo World Backgammon Championship... Read more...

Swedish Backgammon Open background and results on The Road Less Traveled By Robert Wachtel Some of the more interesting backgammon positions I encountered in the Swedish Open tournament came up in my ill-fated fighter’s bracket semifinal with Liby. I was never ahead throughout the whole 13-point match, but I won a gammon in the Crawford game at 6-12, taking away my opponent’s free drop. At 8-12... Read more...

By Robert Wachtel Perhaps the Swiss Backgammon Open was a bit steep for the locals. It drew only 16 entrants – though even this small field proved insurmountable for me. I had more luck in the smaller-money tournament, the official Swiss Backgammon Championship, with its 45 participants. I made it, in fact, to the finals, where I faced local favorite Serge Didisheim in a 17 point match. We... Read more...

Below are money game positions that exemplify some of the strategy we have talked about in the article about the hitting factors in backgammon. White has played the opening roll of 6-3 splitting a back checker with the 6 and then played a checker down to his 10 point with the 3. Black then rolls a 3-1: Black can hit White on the 7 point with the 1 and use the 3 to split a back checker 24/21 or... Read more...

By Robert WachtelI’d like to bring you something cute from WSOB Prague. The WSOB format was best two-of-three 7 point matches. I was leading 5 to 2 in the first match of the second round. My opponent doubled me quite early. I had to take, but things went very well for him indeed. I had nothing but a busted ace point game as we reached an ugly version of the coup classique: I was in... Read more...

How often have you gotten into a great position against your opponent and just when you think you are about to win a gammon, you leave a shot, get hit, and suddenly you lose the game?  And yes, most of the time we were very unlucky to leave that shot and get hit and lose the game.  Do you think they are consistently luckier than the rest of us?  They are simply better players,... Read more...

What play would you make in the following backgammon position? One of the skills that differentiates strong backgammon players is their ability to calmly take risks at the appropriate moment. Put another way they will often play to win rather than play to lose not too badly.This week’s position graphically illustrates this concept. Black has a poor position. Had he rolled a 5 he would... Read more...

Backgammon Position: So far we have looked at doubling decisions without any real discussion of one of the key factors and that is the number of gammons won by the player who doubles. This week’s position is a typical blitz. White has been aggressively attacking black who now finds himself on the bar facing a four-point home board. White doubles. Should black accept the double?Let’... Read more...

This week we enter the complex world of the back game. As a reminder, the definition of a back game is one where one player holds two or more points in his opponent’s board.The objective of the person playing the back game is to hold both the points in his opponent’s board whilst using his remaining checkers to build a strong home board. If the back game is well timed his opponent... Read more...

 This week we continue to look at the complexities of doubling by studying the position above. Just before we do that we should revisit the fundamental skills needed to play well. These are: Pattern Recognition – backgammon is too complex to analyse each position anew. We have to rely on our knowledge of the game that we have built up over the years. When we are faced with a... Read more...

 This week we are going to look at a relatively simple play problem but it is one that many would get wrong over the board including this author! How should black play his 64? There are three choices:(a)    20/14, 7/3(b)    7/1*, 7/3(c)    20/10 Before reading take at least a couple of minutes to decide how you would play the role and... Read more...

Backgammon Position: You are black in the position above. Do you double? If you are white do you take if you are doubled?  Backgammon beginners and many intermediates have a lot of trouble with positions like this. What normally happens is they roll something like 62, played 15/7 and then after white rolls an average number – let’s say 53 played 17/9, black doubles... Read more...

This is a money game position. The classic backgammon dilemma – to hit or not to hit? The two moves that need to be considered are (a) 20/15*/13 and (b) 13/8, 13/11. How we do go about analysing these two possibilities and then how do we make a decision?First things first. Let’s look at the strengths and weaknesses of the two players and then decide how black is going to win... Read more...

 It’s a match to 5 and black holds a 2-cube, and white to play 5-2.  Scroll down for the answer.   Scroll down….The right play is to break the 8-point, leaving a blot on the 8 point! I showed this play to many people at the Ft. Lauderdale tournament, and only Mike Corbett got it right (or right according to Snowie).  Maybe he’s not such a bad player... Read more...

Would you expose extra blots against a 4 ½ point board? Match score and considerations: 0-0 to 3, cube in the middle. This is slightly different than for money, but not significantly. Key features of the position: The position is nearly symmetrical, although the blot in White’s board is both a builder to make a 5-point board and subject to an immediate return shot. Black has... Read more...