return to indexI can still remember myself screaming this at the captain in the chouette many years ago in the following position:
| 17 111 | White money game Blue |
He finally went along with me and left the ace point slotted, playing 18/15. It all went like clockword. They left a shot, and we hit. They rolled an ace, entering and recirculating our lead checker. After much jockeying around we finally forced them to jar a second checker loose, hit it, and won the game. After it was over, the captain said: "Well, Isure learned something that game".
Was not making the ace point correct? I really don't know. It was probably wrong. We could certainly use the second checker, but it would have been quite possible to win the game without it. Meanwhile, there were a lot of bad things which could happen. White might have rolled a six after enteringinstead of another ace, and now we would have to hit the checker on theway around or likely lose a gammon (or even a backgammon). Even if we did force White to play ace and leave another blot, we would still have to hitthe blot. If we failed to do so and White closed up his ace point, hisracing chances would improve. If we had the full prime then certainly making the ace point would be wrong, but with our bar point open it is far fromclear. Despite the favorable result, I now believe we should have completed the closeout.
The above scenario occurred back in the 70's, when all the experts were very purity oriented. Making the ace point was always considered to bea bad thing to do. The checkers were thought to be out of play. No longer could a pretty prime be established. Flexibility was lost. In fact, theace point was called "the guff", and making it was the mark of a beginner.
The following position (or something close to it) was from a problem set which Paul Magriel had constructed in that era.
| 143 151 | White money game Blue |
When Kent Goulding, who was a student of Magriel's at that time, showed me this position, I thought about it for a while and then said: "I hateto admit it, but I think I would make the ace point". It turned out thatI was ahead of the times. Most players of that era played 13/7(4) in aneffort to remain pure and go for the priming game. That is very wronghere. This is a tactical battle, with both sides having one checker back.Also, the 6-6 roll puts Blue well ahead in the race, which means that hefigures to come out second best in a priming battle. White has many rollswhich make his bar point or five point, and it is vital for Blue to getWhite on the bar and prevent him from continuing to develop his position.13/7(4) simply follows the wrong Game Plan Today, with the help of thebots, I have no doubt that almost all experts would make the ace pointwithout giving it a second thought, but in those days everybody tried toplay purely and making the ace point was considered awful.
Riddle: What is worse than finding a worm in an apple you are eating. Answer: finding half a worm. The same is true of the ace point. Makingthe ace point may be bad, but making half an ace point is worse. Thiswas not understood by the players of the 70's. Interestingly enough, many of them had no aversion to hitting loose on the ace point in theearly stages of the game -- if anything, they tended to overdo it. They understood the importance of tempo and keeping the opponent off-balance. However, their followup was not correct. Their idea was to leave theace point slotted, so that eventually the checker will be hit and getrecirculated. For example:
| 159 152 | White money game Blue |
Playing B/23, 13/7 would have been considered automatic several years ago.Why make the ace point when you can make the bar point? Today, this sortof position is seen in a different light. That blot on the ace pointis a thorn in Blue's side. If Blue doesn't cover it, it will sit there waiting to be hit at exactly the wrong moment. Not only will beinghit on the ace point result in 24 lost pips in the race, but it will put Blue on the bar which could be disastrous in the future. In addition,13/7 strips the midpoint. Blue is better off playing B/23, 7/1.
The following position gives us a good feeling about the philosophy of making the ace point. It occurred in the 1996 World Cup final between myselfand Malcolm Davis:
| 188 164 | Malcolm Davis 0 11 point match Kit Woolsey 0 |
At the table, I made the ace point. I felt it was rather clear, butmentioned to Malcolm that the commentators probably wouldn't like the play (this was on closed-circut TV). Malcolm agreed. That was correct. Kent Goulding was one of the commentators, and in his writeup in Inside backgammon he said that he thought long-term purity in this sortof complex position was more important than the short-term tactical gainof making the ace point. He showed the position to Nack Ballard and Mike Senkiewicz, two of the top players in the world, and independently they both preferredthe "purer" play of 13/11*, 6/1*. It should be mentioned that at the timeMalcolm and I had already had much experience with Jellyfish, since wehad copies of it before it became public, while other players did not havethis experience since the product had just come out on the market. It lookslike this is going to be a long complex game, and the question is whetheror not making the ace point will be an albatross hanging over my head.In my opinion, then and now, the spare checker on the three point wasfar more of an albatross then the made ace point, and a blot on the acepoint was worse than making the ace point. My guess is that our improved understanding of the game would have making the ace point much more popular, and that almost all experts would do so now. At the time therewas still the carryover of avoiding making the ace point in complex games, and that stopped the good players from making the play.
So, when should making the ace point really be avoided? The main timeis during a priming battle. If you have an advanced anchor, then the ace point becomes just another inner board point. However, if youare possibly stuck behind a prime and trying to make a prime of yourown, then owning the ace point can be very bad.
| 156 159 | White money game Blue |
Making the ace point on White's head is thematically wrong. This is apriming type of game, not a blitzing type. It is correct for Blue to play the pure 13/8, 13/7 and try to build his four and five points.
The other main time when making the ace point may be thematically wrongis when playing a deep anchor or back game. Ideally, when you hit your shot you would like to trap the hit checker behind a blockade and jaranother checker loose. However, you have to have the time to do this.Many players overdo this concept. For example, another problem fromMagriel's problem set (or something close to it):
| 72 123 | White money game Blue |
Back in the 70's, there were many players who would have played 6/2, 6/1with this roll. Their idea was to avoid making the ace point at all cost,even if it meant piling a bunch of spares on the other points. The ideawas that if the ace point remained uncovered and they hit a shot, theycould eventually recirculate the checkers one by one as White was forcedto enter with an ace. This concept would be fine if you could call therolls of the dice, but you can't. The correct play is the obvious oneof making the ace point, with the plan of collapsing the board from theback and hoping to hold onto as much as possible while keeping a smoothposition. Keeping the ace point open in the hopes of recirculating checkerssimply isn't going to work.
| 76 180 | White money game Blue |
This is the type of position where it is correct to avoid making theace point. Blue will probably be able to escape one of the checkerson White's three point next turn, and after that he will have plentyof time to maneuver and build a blockade. He cannot afford to wasteone of his checkers to make the ace point. He simply leaves the pointuncovered, and if he eventually hits a shot and White rolls anace Blue won't mind one bit -- that will get the checker back into playso Blue can use all 15 checkers to contain the hit checker and jar asecond checker loose.
| 39 129 | White money game Blue |
In the old days, experts would play 8/5, 3/2. The idea, of course was toavoid making the ace point at all costs. In their minds, after they hittheir shot White would enter with an ace and recirculate a checker. Then they would roll an ace, hit loose on the ace point, White would hit back,and another checker would get back into play. In the meantime, maybeWhite would get trapped on Blue's ace point and be forced to jar anotherchecker loose. All this is too much dreaming. It could happen, but thereare far too many things which could go wrong. Blue should play the simple 8/5, 2/1, and try to win by hitting just one checker and keeping it onthe bar. This isn't at all farfetched. If White were down to just threecheckers on the two point for a potential coup classique then the approach ofnot making the ace point would probably be correct, but in this position itis carrying things too far.
When it comes to blitzes, the ace point is just as powerful as any otherpoint for keeping the opponent on the bar. In fact, it is often betterto make the ace point than a higher point. The reason is that a higherpoint is easier to reach with the outer board builders. No self-respectingstudent of the game would get this one wrong:
| 156 107 | White money game Blue |
You can throw the pure 9/7, 8/7 out the window. This is blitz, not a prime, and gammons do count double. It is clear for Blue to play 3/2*, 3/1.This puts a second checker on the bar and gives White only good twos. If White enters with a three or a four, he will probably be attacked again. Making the bar point gives White both aces and twos to survive. Note how the shift to the ace point activates the builders on the eight andnine points so they are now aimed at more of the key inner board pointsBlue needs to make. This theme is quite common.
One never knows when the ace point may come in handy. Even if an opponentisn't on the bar now, he may be there in the future, and owning thatace point may deprive him of a key roll. So often have they laughed when I made my ace point, only to have that laughter turn to groans whenthey roll 1-1 from the bar.