Short games can sparkle in miniature. Such jewels are easier to recall, and focus on a single idea or two. Here is an example: White opens with 35s and makes her home 3pt. The natural play. Black replies with double 22s and also makes the natural play, his 4pt and his 11pt. Lucky to roll…
make a list
Black opens with 32s and tries an old school play that brings two spares down from the midpoint, hoping to develop a blockade. Seven white rolls can hit. W36s One of the seven rolls that hit a black blot. B62s Black enters from the bar and slots the 5pt, hoping White misses. Starting the 18pt…
currency exchange for gammons
In a cash game sometimes a position offers two plays about equal in profits but one play is riskier with more losses of single games yet generates more gammon wins. How many extra gammons are needed to offset the additional loss of a single game? In a cash game this currency exchange is well known…
geography on a backgammon board
When I was a child, the first subject in school that I "dropped" was geography. I later regretted this rash decision and, as an adult penance, read about economic geography, how trading and location work together. The backgammon board has some geographic trades too. White opens with 35s and makes her 3pt in the home…
look before leaping
Black is on the bar and must choose which location inside White's home board to enter after the roll Black 54s. Black dancer must enter from the bar A common mistake blamed on not looking before leaping and on visual laziness. Sometimes Black has the right -- nay the requirement -- to place the checkers…
golden point antics six-four
Sometimes during a practice session against the bot it is worthwhile to design and build a blunder into the game, to make a mistake on purpose which launches a worldly exploration of a play's merits. There could be a whole series of blunders in response to an opening play, different rolls that push the parental…
classic prime versus prime
Cash game with Jacoby rule. Black pauses to consider a first cube. Black pauses to consider a first double Cube decision over-the-board: White has a slight racing lead. Both the deep Black and White anchors are becoming trapped in a classic prime versus prime scenario. White has a gapped 4-prime with its illogical 16pt-22pt structure,…
dumping a backgame
The position below is offered more as a novelty than as a puzzle to be solved. In the game, although Black played poorly, at no stage did White have enough of an advantage to consider a cube. Until now. For orientation, White's home board is at the top left and Black's is at the bottom…
nitpicking 101
The nitpicker Max White is our opponent. White is a solid player, meticulous but adheres to ancient principles long debunked. A kind of visionary error that overlooks routine things. Max White, by trade, is a scientist. Born and soon indoctrinated to research something important but never get it published. Knows something, but seems unable to…
down to the crossroads
During a dark night of backgammon, on an empty fruit stand at the crossroads of some rural route, deep and silent in tobacco county, the devil makes an interesting proposal. Do you want to start the game with glorious 31s, making your golden point? Or: Would you prefer to have ownership of the doubling cube…
the baron talks backgammon 