Backgammon Articles

Opening Rolls Checker Play Pip Counting Cube Handling Cube Handling in Races

 

	Opening Rolls
	In the Beginning By Nack Ballard and Paul Weaver. A three-part series on the first rolls of a game of backgammon. It is aimed at improving the skill level of backgammon players of all strengths. Part 1 aims mostly at teaching beginning and intermediate players. Parts 2 and 3 build on earlier knowledge and gradually present a greater challenge.
	How to Play the Opening Rolls By Tom Keith. In-depth analysis of each of the 15 possible opening rolls. Each roll includes a survey of the most popular ways to play the roll and a rollout showing how Gnu Backgammon ranks the plays.
	How to Play the Opening Moves By Phil Simborg. Everything you need to know about making the right play first roll of the game.
	Replies to the Opening Moves By Tom Keith. General principles for making replies to your opponent's opening play, and complete rollouts for 693 different plays.
	Start and Return Rolls By Peter Max Friis Jensen. Advice on how to play the opening rolls and each possible return roll for every opening.
	First and Second Moves [PDF] By Stanley E. Richards. A chart designed as a learning tool to master the first and second moves of backgammon.
	bgonline.org By Stick Rice. This site publishes extensive rollouts of most of the opening moves and a large number of the second moves too.
	How to Play Opening Rolls How to play the various opening rolls. Collected postings from the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.
	Checker Play
	Positioning the Cue Ball By Kit Woolsey. Expert pool players plan ahead. They don't just think the current shot; they think two or three shots ahead. The backgammon player, like the pool shark, should look beyond the immediate roll and anticipate future problems. He should ask: "What course is the game likely to follow?"
	A Look at the Golden Point By Michael Crane. You can gain a large measure of security throughout a game by making a single point. This is your opponent's 5-point, called the Golden Point. It is the most important point for you to establish in the game.
	Threading the Needle By Kit Woolsey. Is the location of the cube an important factor for play selection? Players sometimes say "I would have made a different move if the cube had been in the center" or something like that. Do they have any idea what they are talking about, or is it just rationalization?. In this article, Woolsey examines this thorny issue.
	Backgammon Quotes & Tips By Hisako.
	Checker Play Posts Articles on the strategy and tactics of checker play. Collected postings from the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.
	Burying vs. Bearing In By Douglas Zare. A tutorial for players who don't know the theory of bearing in yet. Why it is bad move checkers deep into your board while bearing in? The article also introduces the 7-5-3 target distribution.
	Bearing Off After breaking contact with your opponent, you want to bear your checkers in and off in such a way as to "waste" as few pips as possible. Here are some articles that explain wastage and how to minimize it. Collected postings from the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.
	Pip Counting
	The Half-Crossover Pipcount By Douglas Zare. Knowing whether one is ahead in the race or not is vital for correct playing strategies. Here is a new, simple method for establishing an approximate pipcount, which often is good enough. Then when you need it, a few extra calculations gives you the exact pipcount.
	The Northern Michigan Pip Count By Robert Townsend. A summary of Douglas Zare's Half-Crossover Pip Count with some shortcuts and tricks to make it easier to use.
	Cluster Counting By Jack Kissane. Jack Kissane, backgammon master from Albany, New York, is known in many chouette circles as the fastest pip counter in the world. In a June 1989 Chicago Point interview, Kissane claimed that he can count almost any backgammon position within five seconds. Here, Jack Kissane shares his counting techniques with the backgammon community.
	Sho Sengoku's "Five-Count" By Sho Sengoku. Advantages of this system are that it takes advantage of the symmetric nature of the board, uses base 5 counting, minimizes arithmetic, requires no "mental shift", is easy and quick to master, and is reliable.
	The Pip-Count of Monte Cristo By Michael Crane. If pip counting is alien to you or you find the mathematics of counting all those checkers on all those points just too much work; then here are some handy shortcuts.
	Pip Counting Articles on different techniques of pip counting. Collected postings from the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.
	Cube Handling
	Doubling Strategy in Backgammon By Peter Max Friis Jensen. This article covers the rules of doubling, the value of owning the cube, the take-point, when to double, the doubling window, when you are too good to double, and the doubling cube in matches.
	Be a PRAT By Alan Webb. In his book, Improve Your Game, Paul Lamford uses the acronym PRAT as a guide to doubling and accepting. PRAT stands for Position, Race And Threats. Lamford recommends doubling when you have an advantage in two of three areas. And a clear advantage in all three means your opponent should pass.
	Doubling the Stakes and Brownian Motion By Jochen Blath and Peter Mörters. This article presents a mathematical model for the doubling cube and calculates the appropriate time to offer a double, and to accept or drop a double, based on the assumption that the players' chances in the game vary continuously.
	Cube Handling Articles on the strategy and theory of cube play. Collected postings from the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.
	Take-Points in Money Games By Rick Janowski. This article was written in 1993. It presents a model of doubling in money games which allows for gammons, backgammons, the Jacoby rule, and beavers. Danny Kleinman checked through this work and acknowledged it as the most accurate model to date. (Warning: Heavy-duty math.)
	Too Good? Too Bad! By Paul Lamford. How to tell when you are too good to double.
	Cube Handling in Races
	Cube Handling in Noncontact Positions By Tom Keith. A description and evaluation of several popular methods of making cube decisions in noncontact positions. This article introduces the "Keith" count, an accurate formula for making race cube decisions.
	Effective Pip Count By Walter Trice. Trice introduces the term "effective pip count" and describes some clever methods of calculating it in different types of positions. In positions where it applies, the effective pip count is a very accurate method of making cube decisions in noncontact positions.
	Curing Your Short Bearoff Blues By Bob Koca. Often a game will come down to one player having two checkers left versus an opponent with one or two checkers left. Since this is common, one can benefit by memorizing a table of these cube actions. This article presents some guidelines to make memorizing the table easier.
	The Cube and the Race By Robert Townsend. Strategy and doubling situations in long/medium races and in short races during the end game. The article also discusses the cube in general and the concept of equity and how to use it to guide your decisions.
	Cube Handling in Races After contact has been broken and the game is a pure race, it is easier to estimate your winning chances and make accurate doubling decisions. Here are some articles on handling the cube in races. Collected postings from the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.

Copyright © 1996-2006 by Tom Keith