Backgammon Tactics

Luck keeps backgammon lively and sometimes dramatic, but over many games it is a game of skill. Strong players never count on the dice. They lose games like everyone else, yet they win clearly more than they lose, because they make better decisions in each phase of the game. Here is what to focus on from the first roll to the last.

The opening

The start of the game is the easiest phase to get right, because the decisions are well known. There are only 15 opening moves and a manageable set of standard replies, and anyone who plays regularly soon knows them by heart. There is also little room for invention: for most rolls one play is clearly best, and drifting away from it gives away equity for nothing.

Even this early, chances for aggressive play appear. The most dramatic is the blitz, an all-out attack that hits repeatedly and closes points in your home board. When it works it can finish the game, often with a gammon. When it fails, the attacker is left with scattered checkers and little to show for it, so learn the signs that make a blitz worth trying.

The middle game

After the opening both players build their positions and hit when good chances arise. Sometimes this phase is short and the game turns into a race. Often, though, one player gains an edge in structure, and the game settles into a recognizable type, each with its own plans:

• Priming games, where one side builds a wall of points to trap the opponent's checkers.
• Holding games, where one side keeps an anchor in the opponent's board and waits for a shot.
• Backgames, where a player who is far behind holds two points in the opponent's board and plays for a late hit.

Recognizing which type of game you are in tells you what to aim for, and which mistakes to avoid. Study each of them so that none of them catches you by surprise.

The doubling cube

The doubling cube changed backgammon when it appeared in the 1920s. It turns quiet positions into decisions: a player with a modest but clear advantage can double and force the opponent either to play on for higher stakes or to concede at once. Many games today never reach the end; they finish with a pass.

Good cube decisions depend on three skills: counting the race with the pip count, judging timing, and knowing the basic probabilities. It looks like a lot at first, but cube errors tend to be far more costly than checker errors, so the effort pays off quickly. Start with The Doubling Cube.

The race

Many players think of the final race as pure dice rolling, but there is skill in it too. Doubles help, and the player who rolls more of them often wins. Still, a race also asks you to avoid wasting pips, to bring checkers into the home board efficiently, and to spread them across your points rather than stacking them, so that the bear-off goes smoothly.

A race can stay close to the very last roll, but experienced players often decide it earlier with a well-timed double. Our article on The Race gives a simple rule of thumb for doubling and taking in races.

Putting it together

Play the opening by the book, choose a clear plan in the middle game, treat the cube as seriously as the checkers, and count the race carefully at the end. Players who handle all four phases well win their share of games against anyone.