GammOnLine Article Index

June 1999 (Demo Issue)

Threading the Needle:  An article on integrating checker play with cube ownership—by Kit Woolsey.

Becoming a Better Player:  Thoughts on the tools that an intermediate player needs to be able to compete with the big boys—and what you don't need. The first in a series of articles for beginning and intermediate players—by guest expert Hank Youngerman.

Positioning the Cue Ball:  An article on preparation and flexibility—by Kit Woolsey.

July 1999

When In Rome:  A sound theme for incorporating the race into your strategy—by Kit Woolsey.

Basic Probabilities, Dice, and the Doubling Cube:  Dice roll facts and doubling odds; the absolute basics you really should understand but may not! The second in a series of articles for beginning and intermediate players—by guest expert Hank Youngerman.

Scientific Steaming:  A study in the art of steaming—by guest expert David Montgomery.

August 1999

Five Point Match:  A full discussion of all posible match scores in a five point match—by Kit Woolsey.

Doubling Theory and Market Losers:  The third in a series of articles for beginning and intermediate players—by guest expert Hank Youngerman.

History of Backgammon:  A 20th century history and status report on backgammon—by guest expert Chuck Bower.

September 1999

Doubling Theory:  A high-level analysis of the theoretical question of when to double—by Kit Woolsey.

Enough Rope:  A review of GammOnLine from the August 1999 Hoosier Backgammon Newsletter—by guest expert Chuck Bower.

Simborg's Laws:  Amusing yet all too true laws of backgammon—by guest expert Phil Simborg.

Rankings and Ratings:  An analysis of methods of ranking backgammon players—by guest expert Chuck Bower.

October 1999

Crawford and Beyond:  An analysis of checker play at double match point and other post-Crawford scores—by Kit Woolsey.

Match Equity and Doubling Windows:  The fourth in a series of articles for beginning and intermediate players—by guest expert Hank Youngerman.

November 1999

Viva Las Vegas:  A diary of the Vegas tournament at the end of October—by Kit Woolsey.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do:  A technical play which comes up all the time—by Kit Woolsey.

Doubling Windows and Special Doubling Situations:  The fifth in a series of articles for beginning and intermediate players—by guest expert Hank Youngerman.

December 1999

Lifeline of a Back Game:  A key tip for playing and defending against back games— Kit Woolsey.

Initial Doubles:  An in-depth analysis of a common early doubling decision—by guest expert Hal Heinirch.

The Great Prime Problem: An amusing story and a challenging backgammon puzzle—by guest expert Bill Davis.

January 2000

Computers and Rollouts:  A history and analysis of our favorite bots—by Kit Woolsey.

The Worst Move in the World: A GammOnLine contest—by Kit Woolsey.

Solution to the Great Prime Problem: The solution to last month's puzzle—by guest expert Bill Davis.

February 2000

The Other Side of the Board:  A look at the Big Picture—by Kit Woolsey.

Variance Reduction:  A description of an important rollout tool—by guest expert David Montgomery.

Barry Fisk and the Early Cube:  An amusing and instructive story—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

Results of Worst Move Contest: Results of last month's contest—by Kit Woolsey.

March 2000

Anatomy of a Back Game:  A detailed analysis of an actual complex back game—by Kit Woolsey.

Questions and Answers about Variance Reduction:  Answers to questions about variance reduction—by guest expert David Montgomery.

Shoot the Chouette:  An amusing story about a chouette tournament—by guest expert Jake Jacobs.

April 2000

The Pro-Am Tournament:  Diary of the Pro-Am tournament—by Kit Woolsey.

Clocks in Backgammon:  A discussion of the use of clocks at backgammon tournaments—by Kit Woolsey and others.

The Chess Clock:  An article Kit wrote for Inside Backgammon that is representative of his view on clocks—by Kit Woolsey.

May 2000

The Blitz:  Analysis of interesting blitz cube decisions—by Kit Woolsey.

Jemimah's Beaver Creek Double:  An interesting backgammon puzzle—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

Post-Crawford Doubling:  A look at cube use after the Crawford game—by guest expert Matt Reklaitis.

June 2000

Quick Jolt:  An exciting sequence of moves from a tournament match—by guest expert Jake Jacobs.

Jemimah Plays Nackgammon—Not:  An interesting backgammon puzzle—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

Solution Jemimah's Beaver Creek Double:  Solution to last month's puzzle—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

July 2000

Panic City:  A description of the pressure of high-level tournament play—by guest expert Steve Clark.

My First 64-Cube:  An interesting backgammon puzzle—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

Solution to Jemimah Plays Nackgammon:  Solution to last month's puzzle—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

August 2000

Creating Problems:  A description of inducing errors by your opponent—by Kit Woolsey.

A Position from Jemimah's Past :  An interesting backgammon puzzle—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

Solution to My First 64-Cube:  Solution to last month's puzzle—by guest expert Stein Kulseth.

September 2000

How to Study Your Own Matches:  An article showing how one can improve one's game—by guest expert Mary L. Hickey.

Taking a Big Step Forward:  An in-depth study of an opening roll and the consequences—by guest expert Alex Zamanian.

October 2000

Using the Bots:  A discussion of how to get the most from Snowie—by Kit Woolsey.

The Great White Unicorn:  An analysis of a real live double/beaver position—by guest expert Dorn Bishop.

Reference Positions:  A discussion of use of reference positions—by guest expert Hank Youngerman.

November 2000

A History of Backgammon:  An excellent discussion of the past and present of our favorite game—by guest expert Mark Driver.

More Than One Way to Win:  An analysis of a common evaluation problem—by guest expert Alex Zamanian.

December 2000

Playing for the Gammon:  A discussion of some important factors in the play-on decision—by Kit Woolsey.

Count your Pipples:  An extremely accurate race counting technique which can be used over the board—by guest expert Jean-Luc Seret.

January 2001

Extra Shots:  An analysis of a recurring type of backgammon problem—by Kit Woolsey.

Understanding Uncertainty:  A description of statistical considerations involving rollouts—by guest expert Chuck Bower.

Snowie Equities:  An examination of the match equities used by Snowie—by Kit Woolsey.

February 2001

Saving Sixes:  A close look at a common type of problem—by Kit Woolsey.

GammOnLine project status report:  An different kind of analysis of bot rollouts—by guest expert Chuck Bower.

March 2001

The Most Common Error:  A look at the biggest mistake made by players of all levels—by Kit Woolsey.

Priming vs. Splitting in the Opening:  An examination of a common early game problem—by guest expert Alex Zamanian.

The Pro-Am Tournament:  A great game from the finals of the Pro-Am tournament—by Kit Woolsey.

April 2001

Peever's errors vs. Kit Woolsey:  An examination of some crucial positions from an interesting match—by guest expert Paul Weaver.

The Art of War: The Tau of Backgammon:  Some interesting writings showing the comparisons between war and backgammon—by guest expert Mark Driver.

May 2001

Reference Positions:  An thorough analysis of a prototype five-point holding game and its variations—by Kit Woolsey.

GammOnLine Project Part II—Snowie Parameter Settings:  A continuation of the series about understanding and making the most of Snowie's options—by guest expert Chuck Bower.

Ramblings:  Some amusing yet meaningful thoughts about backgammon—by guest expert Phil Simborg.

June 2001

Backgammon Mathematics:  A description of the common types of mathematical calculations used in backgammon—by Kit Woolsey.

July 2001

Only a 4-Cube:  An example of how a bit of carelessness with the cube can throw away an evening's hard work—by Kit Woolsey.

Dice Counting: An Alternative to Pip Counting:  A description of how to maintain a running pip count—by guest experts Grant and Jackie Hoffman.

Winning Magick:  More excellent and interesting backgammon philosophy—by guest expert Mark Driver.

August 2001

When God is Wrong:  Several positions which Snowie's 3-ply evaluation got wrong according to Snowie's own rollouts—by Kit Woolsey.

Naccel: A[N accel]erated Pipcount:  A new, easy, and efficient method of getting the pip count—by guest expert Nack Ballard.

Classic Backgammon Revisited:  A review of Jeremy Bagai's excellent new book—by guest expert Marty Storer.

September 2001

Nackgammon:  Some ideas on strategies for this very popular backgammon variant—by Kit Woolsey.

Quantifying Backgammon Skill:  A discussion of making the most of the neural nets to evaluate your own backgammon skill—by guest expert Chuck Bower.

Chouette is Hell:  More thoughts and philosophies about backgammon—by guest expert Phil Simborg.

October 2001

The Frozen Cube:  Discussion of some unusual cube decisions in match play—by Kit Woolsey.

Flow: Optimal Performance in the Here and Now:  More philosophies on success in backgammon and life—by guest expert Mark Driver.

November 2001

What's Your Game Plan:  Examination of how experts form winning game plans—by Kit Woolsey.

GGraccoon Speaks Out:  A live interview with our favorite rodent—by guest expert Mary Hickey.

December 2001

A Whopper of a Game:  An illustrative game which shows how difficult backgammon can be—by Kit Woolsey.

Sixteen Cube:  An exciting series of cube actions from the Las Vegas Open—by Kit Woolsey.

January 2002

The Ultimate Pip Count:  A reprint of an old Inside Backgammon article illustrating a very precise method to analyze a race—by Kit Woolsey.

Sample Size and Computer Rollouts:  A mathematical analysis of what are a sufficient number of trials for computer rollouts—by guest expert DeWayne Derryberry.

February 2002

Oink Oink!:  A discussion of taking risks to get a gammon—by Kit Woolsey.

March 2002

The European Split:  An examination of the question of what to do with that lone back checker—by Kit Woolsey.

April 2002

The Crystal Beaver:  An interested annotated game from the finals of the Crystal Beaver tournament in Chicago—by Kit Woolsey.

May 2002

The Squeeze Play:  A discussion of an expert technique for getting the most out of a favorable position—by Kit Woolsey.

June 2002

Memoriable Weekend:  Some positions and an interesting game from the Chicago Memorial Day tournament—by Kit Woolsey.

July 2002

Containment:  A discussion about the complexities involved after hitting a late shot—by Kit Woolsey.

August 2002

The Doubling Rule:  A reprint of the original article on Woolsey's law of doubling—by Kit Woolsey.

How to Use Snowie More Efficiently:  A discussion on making the most of our favorite bot—by guest expert Oliver Heuler.

September 2002

Breaking the Anchor:  An examination of the difficult problem of when to break off an anchor—by Kit Woolsey.

October 2002

Duplication:  A discussion of the aspects of duplication—by Kit Woolsey

All About GNU:  An explanation of how to use the Gnu Backgammon in terms we can understand—by guest expert Albert Silver.

November 2002

Bearing in Safely:  An important concept for bearing in against an enemy anchor—by Kit Woolsey.

Back to the 80's:  A look at some interesting results from the latest Snowie upgrade—by guest expert Albert Silver.

December 2002

Pro Am 2002:  Some positions and an annotated game from this year's Pro Am—by Kit Woolsey.

January 2003

The Random Point:  Discussion of how to produce a second blot out of thin air—by Kit Woolsey.

February 2003

Staying Ahead:  A practical analysis of cube decisions when ahead in the match—by guest expert Lasse H. Madsen.

GGraccoon Speaks Out Again:  Another interview with everybody's favorite rodent—by guest expert Mary Hickey.

March 2003

The Racers's Edge:  A discussion of guidelines which help make racing plays quick and simple—by Kit Woolsey.

April 2003

The Ace Point:  A look at the pros and cons of making the ace point—by Kit Woolsey.

Fair Settlement in Backgammon Play:  An examination of how to calculate settlements quickly and accurately—by guest expert Ramez Abi-Akar.

Alternative Rules to Make the Game Interesting:  Some new ideas to liven up backgammon—by guest expert Phil Simborg.

May 2003

Vegas 2003:  Several interesting positions from the recent Vegas tournament—by Kit Woolsey.

June 2003

Inside Bearoff:  Some unusual and fascinating bearoff plays—by guest expert Jean-Luc Seret.

Running a Club Evening Tournament:  A valuable piece of advice for club owners—by guest expert Rodney Lighton.

Beginners and Bots:  Worthwhile tips for playing against those bots—by guest expert Steve Flanagan.

July 2003

Inducing Cube Errors:  Ways to get an extra edge by matching cube action with the opponent—by Kit Woolsey.

August 2003

World Championship Final:  The full final match of the world championship, with annotations by several experts.

September 2003

Avoiding Burger King:  Important tips to cut down on those Whoppers—by Kit Woolsey.

October 2003

Volatility:  A discussion of the importance of volatility for doubling decisions—by Kit Woolsey.

Mec26: A "New" Match Equity Table:  A more accurate match equity table which takes into account higher gammon rates—by guest expert Albert Silver.

November 2003

2 away 3 away:  An illustration of the importance of adjusting cube strategy at this match score—by Kit Woolsey.

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