It is a rare event when Black doubles without first making a new home point. Rare, but not impossible. Consider the cube position below. Black is on the roll in a cash game with Jacoby rule. Should Black cube? What is the cube action? Cube action? An amazing situation but is it a double? White…
hidden variables
Details matter in backgammon. Sometimes a learning technique is best applied to small differences. The bots make posing and answering these What If? questions very easy, perhaps too easy. Backgammon positions quickly modify and morph, leaving a trail of equities to interpret. Yet insight can come from introducing small controlled changes, clearly attributed. Consider this…
typical cube actions
Many backgammon players view turning the doubling cube as a solitary event. To improve upon cube decisions, a cube action should be viewed as a sequence of events -- a three-act stage play with theatrical opening-middle-end scenes. The sequence below is clearcut to all good players, no puzzles about the decisions, thereby allowing the underlying…
random thoughts at night
Lady Luck has an interesting side hustle going. Not only does the playful Lady navigate the game against world class fakers at world class stakes, but little Miss Luck herself uses her rare foresight and ample wit to subtle advantage, thereby on average demanding only correct odds in every backgammon situation -- first Black rolls…
simple games breed quiet tactics
Here is a recent game. The early opening creates a parallel game plan where both Black and White are waiting in a mutual holding pattern. Even quiet games require careful checker plays, especially to squeeze out some small advantages. Black makes a mistake early on. Sometimes, in a close game, it is worth injecting a…
thoughts on rtp550
Here is an essential backgammon position. It becomes a benchmark position when you make it so, by thoughtful study. Before rolling the dice, White doubles Black in a cash game. Should Black take the cube or pass? What is in it for Black? A cube position establishes a memorable scene, often complete with dialogue. A…
study trick (1)
A benchmark position must be set up by memory, no exceptions. To remember, a short narrative may be attached to the backgammon situation, where the herald proclaims a royal position with its entourage a chorus of backgammon ideas. Tweets blare the bling: a closed board, a number puzzle. How to spread the three black spares?…
takepoint #105
Backgammon has plenty of intrigue. Some cube decisions can tempt paint to strip itself. Other choices seem routine, mundane, dull even. However, whether to drop a cube or continue the game at twice the price? That is never a dull question. Deserving a thoughtful answer. When a backgammon position is on the cusp of Take…
Reference positions for taking and passing the cube
Cash game. Jacoby rule in force. White doubles. Once White doubles, the Jacoby rule is irrelevant. Black must decide whether to take the cube, even though Black is clearly losing this game. Or should Black pass, resign to defeat, chalk up the lost stake, and begin the next game in the session with renewed vigor.…
seven facet jewel
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…
the baron talks backgammon 