How to beat the Microsoft Computer Backgammon Program

When you go to the Microsoft Internet Backgammon site, the computer will look for a live opponent for you, set up the board, and assign you either the white or brown checkers (the brown looks more like red on my screen). It will roll the dice and tell you when it’s your turn. You move using your mouse, and can double, chat, or offer a deal to your opponent, depending on the situation.

If your live opponent leaves the match at any time, the Microsoft Computer Backgammon software takes over and finishes the match. The computer plays a wild and crazy game. None of the expertise that goes into creating other Microsoft software (I hope) has been used to create their backgammon software.

I have never lost to the Microsoft Computer Backgammon software (MCB) in a game played from the start. I always double it during a new game at the first opportunity. MCB has never refused a double, even when I doubled on my last move with the win sewed up. This was in a game the computer took over from a live player.

If MCB is easy to beat, it must be awful, right? Right, but it can be daunting to the player who values safety above all else. You can’t play a safe game against MCB. Its strategy can be netted out by saying it never saw a blot it didn’t want to hit. In games against MCB, I’ve had as many as 3 of my checkers on the bar at one time, but still achieved an easy victory.

MCB hits blots wherever it finds them, even in its own inner board. If you’ve been paying attention, you know it usually isn’t a good idea to hit a blot in your inner board unless you can create a block at the same time, and not leave a blot yourself.

While hitting all these blots, MCB is careless about its own checkers, and leaves blots everywhere, including its inner board. So here’s the strategy to use against it. Hit almost all the blots you can with the exception of blots in your inner board. As you are able, create blocks in your inner and outer boards in order to help guide your checkers safely to your inner board and hold your opponent’s checkers back.

When MCB hits your blot in its inner board and you immediately reenter the board and hit the blot it left, you gain about 18 to 20 pips. As the hits continue, MCB may stack up 6 or 8 checkers in your inner board, but you won’t leave checkers in its inner board. This is because MCB isn’t good at creating blocks in its inner board, especially when you are consistently hitting its checkers there, while you are being more careful with your inner board.

Some of the MCB checkers in your inner board will create blocks and make it more difficult for you to bring your checkers into your inner board and then bear off without getting hit. MCB is not efficient at clearing checkers out of your inner board, even when it has rolls that permit this.

Be patient and don’t panic. You can expect to get hit many times in a game against MCB. If your hits are consistently of a higher quality than those of MCB, meaning that you lose fewer pips, on average, from being hit than MCB does, you will slowly gain an advantage in pips.

To repeat, use opportunities to make points in your inner board. You will gradually squeeze the MCB checkers in your inner board onto one or two points. Expect to be hit even after you start bearing off. I have borne off 14 checkers and had my 15th checker hit. Then I’ve had it hit repeatedly as it entered the board. Eventually, I was always able to bring it around and bear it off.

I have often gammoned MCB, and even backgammoned it, because, as I said, it’s not efficient at clearing checkers out of its opponent’s inner board.

Don’t be afraid to play games against MCB. These will be some of the more exciting games you’ll play, and if you use the proper strategy, you should always win.