Playing to win

Hugh Hefner has held backgammon tournaments at the Playboy Mansion. He once gammoned the world champion five games in a row. There is luck in backgammon, and everybody loses sometimes. Don’t expect to win all your games. That said, if you play using good strategy you’ll win more than you’ll lose.

The objective of backgammon is to bear off all your checkers before your opponent bears off hers. How do you do this? By playing an aggressive game, consistent with keeping the odds of hitting and getting hit in your favor as much as possible (see “Making the Odds Work for You). Players who are afraid of getting hit and play too cautiously won’t win consistently. You have to take chances to make gains.

Evaluate your position before every move. Early in the game you should try to make your bar point and your 5-point, as well as other key points in your inner and outer boards, to slow down your opponent’s escape of his back checkers. Don’t worry about moving your own back checkers out of your opponent’s inner board until a bit later unless you get rolls to help them escape such as 6-5 or 6-4, or unless you don’t have a better alternative than moving a back checker.

If you make 6 points in a row (called a prime) your opponent can’t pass it. If you make the 6 points of your inner board while your opponent has one or more checkers on the bar, your opponent can’t move at all until you break up the prime. If you hold a prime long enough and your opponent is able to move, she may be forced to stack all her checkers not blocked by the prime on her 1-point, and then forfeit moves as a result.

Be wary about hitting your opponent’s blots in your inner board if you have to leave a blot there to do it. If you get hit in return, the exchange will lose you about 18-20 pips. This was brought home to me while playing the Microsoft Computer Backgammon game, because it likes to hit blots in its inner board. I have never lost a game to it played from scratch.

The complexion of the game can change very fast. If your opponent rolls 6-5 twice early on and his back checkers escape, you may want to focus on making points in your opponent’s outer board or even his inner board. Having blocks on your opponent’s bar point and/or 5-point can be very useful if he takes an early lead.

Certain positions can make it dangerous for a player to move at all. For example, if you can make both bar points early with a double-6, this cuts down your opponent’s safe moves. If you are on the wrong side of this position, you may be forced to make the least worst move—that is, the move giving you the least chance of getting hit. That’s when knowing the odds really pays off.

If you have several men back and are forced into a defensive game, it’s helpful to have blocks on 2 points in your opponent’s inner board, at least temporarily. Her 5-point is the best point to hold, if you can place a block on it. The computer gives you a running pip count for you and your opponent, and you can use this to gauge when you should lift your blocks and run. If you are fairly even in pip count, it may be advantageous to get into a running game. If you are well behind, you may have to hold your blocks longer and look for opportunities to hit your opponent.

While you are waiting for an opportunity to hit your opponent, make as many points in your inner board as possible. You don’t want to hit your opponent’s blot, only to see his checker immediately reenter the board and race back around it. I’ve seen many games won because a player who was behind in pips made multiple points on his inner board, and when he had a chance to hit a blot he was able to convert that into a victory by holding the opponent’s checker back.

Always trust the odds, even if you’ve been hit several times in a row despite low odds of getting hit. Every roll of the dice is independent of the others. There are no lucky dice or dice throwers (even when the computer is throwing the dice), although it may seem that way sometimes. The odds always even out eventually.

Sometimes you will receive what can be a game-changing roll if you recognize it and act on it. I was in a game where I was well ahead. The only roll that could help my opponent was a double-4. He got it. He hit 3 of my checkers and went on to win the game. Always be on the lookout for opportunities like this. Don’t make your move too fast; check all the possibilities. You’ll tear your hair out if you miss an opportunity, only to spot it too late.

Some of these opportunities may involve risk. If one of your opponent’s checkers is on your 1-point, and you have blocks on points 2 through 6, you may be tempted to hit his blot with the idea of trying to close your inner board, even though you leave your own blot as a result. Under what circumstances should you do this?

If you are ahead in the pip count, there probably isn’t any need for you to take this risk. Why take a risk you don’t have to? If you are behind in the pip count because most of your opponent’s checkers are on his 1-point, you may want to consider taking the risk of placing a blot on your 1-point and then trying to close your inner board. But before you act, try to determine whether you’re likely to gain from doing this.

First, let’s look at the risk if you decide not to make your 1-point. If your opponent’s checker can escape on a roll of a 6, the chances are 11/36 (11 out of 36) that it will escape on any given turn. If your opponent will win the game if her checker escapes on any of the next three turns, the chances are about 2/3 this will happen.

Let’s say this convinces you to go ahead and hit the blot on your 1-point. The chances of your opponent hitting your blot back on her next turn are 11/36, less than 1/3. Even if she hits your blot, her checker hasn’t escaped yet. You may be able to bring your checker back around the board quickly (remember your opponent’s other checkers are stacked on her 1-point and probably won’t stop you from reentering the board) and try to block her again before she escapes.

If your blot isn’t hit, what are the chances of covering it on your next turn? The answer depends on how many of your checkers that are free (i.e. not involved in forming the blocks on your points 2 through 6) are on different points within 6 pips of your 1-point. If you have 2 free checkers on different points within 6 pips of your 1-point, you have 20/36 chances of covering your blot on a single turn. With 3 checkers your chances increase to about 27/36. With 4 checkers (which are all your free checkers) the chances of covering your blot are about 32/36.

Interesting, isn’t it? I’ve been known to hit my opponent’s blot under similar circumstances.

To summarize, play aggressively, but always know your chances of hitting and being hit. If you lose a couple of games in a match, that’s not the end of the world. At this point I’m often thinking that my opponent isn’t as good as he thinks he is. Even if you are gammoned you can come back and win the match. Keep your cool and play like the quarterbacks who are known for engineering come-from-behind victories.