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Black enters on white’s 3 point and hits on his own 5 point with a man from his 6 point.

This was the first really major decision in the game. Black’s option was to come in on the 1 point, establishing two blocks, and to hit with the 3 from his 8 point. But the move as played is imaginative and daring. If black had come in on the 1 point, he would have been committing himself to a back game. Black can afford the play he made because white has made only his bar and has not yet made any points in his inner board. Hence, black is not necessarily in a back game as yet.

The drawback to this play, however, is that black has lost a builder by hitting white’s blot from his 6 point instead of from the 8 point. Nonetheless, this is an interesting example of early tactics. Black has decided against a back game this early in the game — going along with the theory that back games should if possible be avoided.

bar/22, 6/5*

bar/22, 23/22

Rollout  Tom Keith 2013

Money play Centered cube Black rolls 3-1 1296 games with VR Checker play: 3-ply Cube play: XG Roller

XGID=--ab-aC-C---bEa--bbd---BAA:0:0:1:31:0:0:0:0

	3-1:		Game	G	BG	Equity
1	bar/22, 23/22	W L	.4223 .5777	.0937 .1793	.0043 .0094	−0.3605
2	bar/21	W L	.4171 .5829	.0944 .1891	.0044 .0110	−0.3869	(0.0264)
3	bar/22, 6/5*	W L	.4274 .5726	.0974 .2110	.0045 .0128	−0.4027	(0.0422)
4	bar/24, 23/20	W L	.4188 .5812	.0908 .2011	.0039 .0152	−0.4168	(0.0563)
5	bar/24, 8/5*	W L	.4164 .5836	.0960 .2175	.0044 .0158	−0.4396	(0.0791)

“Three Great Games,” Backgammon: the Cruelest Game

Backgammon: the Cruelest Game (1974), by Barclay Cooke and Jon Bradshaw