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From Backgammon, the Cruelest Game, by Barclay Cooke and Jon Bradshaw
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| White to play 5-5. |
Making the 1 point early on is almost always a weak and worthless play. However there is one important exception to this general rule of thumb, which can arise, and often does, at the very start of play. If your opponent, black, has rolled a 6-4, 6-3, or 6-2 and moves one man from your 1 point into your outer board, or if he has split his back men, advancing one man to either your 2 or 3 point, and you then roll double 5’s, the 1 point becomes much more attractive.
In Diagram 42, you can see that it is now advisable to move two 5’s from your 8 point to your 3 point and two 5’s from your 6 point to your 1 point. This aggressive tactic has established two immediate points in your inner board and has hit at least one of your opponent’s men (if black was foolish enough to leave two blots in your inner board, he now may well have two men on the bar). This play gives white three points in his inner board, and if black fails to enter on his next roll, white has an excellent chance to win a double game. This is a good aggressive play and is the only exception to the general rule of not making your 1 point early in the game.
Rollout
 Tom Keith 2013 |
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Money play Centered cube White rolls 5-5 1296 games with VR Checker play: 3-ply Cube play: XG Roller |
| 5-5: | Game | G | BG | Equity | ||||
| 1 | 8/3(2), 6/1*(2) |
W L |
.5451 .4549 |
.2467 .0992 |
.0035 .0049 | +0.3251 |
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