Occasionally a game can get complex. If there is a lot of early blot-hitting,both sides may wind up with a bunch of checkers back with neither sidehaving a strong board. These are the fun games. Experts love them, becausethey last longer, require more skill, and give the inferior player morechances to make a mistake. Sometimes experts will steer their early playto try to get to this kind of position, although if the dice don'tcooperate they may wind up with the worst of it.

A good example of such a complex position can be found in Kent Goulding'sexcellent Backgammon with the Champions, Volume 2, Number 1, David Leibowitzvs. Mike Corbett. Here is the position, along with Kent's discussion ofhow to handle a complex game:

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Mike Corbett 0 9 point match David Leibowitz 0

Kent's commentary is as follows:

Both sides now have advanced anchors with several checkers back. Manyplayers are understandably confused as to how to continue in this type ofposition. I have three guidelines which I teach to handle this type of game:

1. Keep no more than three checkers on any one point if at all possible.
2. Try to keep lines of communication open between all of your checkers.That is, try not to leave five or six points in a row unoccupied byany of your own men. You don't want to give your opponent room to build aprime splitting your forces.
3. Play as purely as possible: build your home board strictly in orderfrom highest point to lowest and try to place as few checkers as possibleout of play behind your opponent's last anchor.

When in doubt about what to do, try to apply the above rules. More oftenthan not, they will lead you to a reasonable play.

The above is as good advice today as it was 20 years ago.

A few years ago, Nack Ballard had an idea. Since we all like the complexgames, let's modify the starting position so we are more likely to getinto a complex game. He moved one checker from the midpoint and one checkerfrom the six point to the defensive two point, reaching the followingposition:

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White money game Blue

From this starting position, normal play continues. This game wasappropriately named nackgammon. It is quite popular, and a lot of fun.Gamesgrid has the ability to play a nackgammon game, and there aredaily nackgammon tournaments (one-point matches with the nackgammonstarting position) which are enjoyed by everybody.

It must be noted that the starting nackgammon position is likely to leadto the type of complex position Goulding is talking about. Both sideshave several checkers back. An advanced anchor hasn't been formed yet,but the combination of having all those back checkers plus the opponentbeing short on attack material means that both sides are likely to getan advanced anchor quickly. Blitzes are almost impossible -- there isn'tenough ammunition in front, and it is too easy for the opponent toform an anchor somewhere with all those checkers to play with. Similarly,neither side is likely to be able to form an effective prime -- not enoughcheckers to work with, and too many opportunities for the defense.Unlike normal backgammon where one or two back checkers often have tofend for themselves, in nackgammon having the luxury of four back checkersto play with means that the defense will almost always triumph at leastas far as forming an advanced anchor and stopping an instant blitz orpriming attack. The game is very likely to develop into some kindof a mutual holding game.

One thing which Goulding failed to emphasize in his analysis of thecomplex game is the importance of the race. This wasn't his fault -- thissimply wasn't appreciated at the time Backgammon with the Champions waswritten. Once the game got complex enough, the race wasn't thought tobe a major factor. Just throw those checkers where they belong, and goodthings will eventually happen. If a checker gets hit, it is simplyrecirculated so it can do good things later on. With the quality ofcompetition those days, this wasn't such a bad philosophy. It was prettydifficult to lose a game once it got sufficiently complex.

Today, things have changed. Players have gotten better, so you can'tcount on them to automatically screw up a complex position. There is quitea bit of danger in falling behind in the race. If you think about it,once you get behind in the race there are only three ways to recover:

1) Roll big numbers and catch up in the race.
2) Hit a shot and regain the lead.
3) Prime an enemy checker.

In a Mutual Holding Game with both sides having advanced anchors, youaren't going to able to prime anybody. The advanced anchor puts an endto that game plan. Also, if you have an advanced anchor of your ownand no checkers far back, this means that if your opponent gets his backmen out safely you aren't too likely to get a shot from your advancedanchor. Most mutual holding games become simplified when one side orthe other rolls doubles. If you are the one behind in the race when thathappens, you are in trouble. The simple game plan in a mutual holdinggame, which most players can follow, is:

1) Hit a checker or two and get ahead in the race.
2) Make an advanced anchor, and get ready to run.
3) Roll big doubles, clearing the advanced anchor.
4) Bring the position home safely and win.

If your opponent is capable of maintaining a reasonable flexible position,there isn't much you can do to prevent this plan once you get behind in therace. You simply have to hope he doesn't roll those eventual doubles orthat he finds some way to stub his toe en route to his victory. Even ifyou get that shot, you still need to hit it. The odds are against you.Being behind in the race is not a good thing.

What about backgames? You start with four checkers back and two of youropponent's points. Surely you can arrange to get a few more men backand play a decent backgame. The problem is that bad things can happenwhen you try a backgame. There is always gammon danger, of course.For a backgame to be adequately timed, you have to be way behind in thepip count -- usually at least 60 or 70 pips behind or else there isa danger of being forced to release an anchor prematurely or crunchingyour board. Since you start nackgammon with the race even, you have togo some to create a playable backgame. Of course, it is fun to try.Slot everything, let your opponent hit you, and have the backgame develop.An interesting exercise is to play GGraccoon a 1-point nackgammon Match slot everything you can, and see how many checkers you can have sentback. The racoon may stop hitting you after a while, but you should be ableto develop a strong backgame. Of course human opponents may not be ascooperative as the racoon by hitting everything they can, but if they don'thit enough you may be able to build a strong board. Anyway, this approachcan be a lot of fun, although it may not be a winning approach. The nicething about the nackgammon game is that you can pretty much do what youwant to do with the position -- you aren't as constrained by the dice rollsas you are in normal backgammon.

What should one really be trying to do in nackgammon? A look at the openingmoves might give us some idea. I asked Snowie how it thought the variousopening rolls should be played. Here are its opinions. In no way shouldthese be taken as gospel. Remember that the bot is not very backgameoriented, so it will tend to slot less than we like. But its answers maygive us some idea about what is going on.

2-1: Snowie likes 24/22, 23/22 best, although it thinks other plays withthe back checkers such as 23/20; 23/21, 23/22; and 24/21 are prettyclose. It definitely does not like slotting the offensive five point,and it is reluctant to bring a precious builder down from the midpointinto double indirect shot range. The entire emphasis is on defense.

3-1: Make the five point. This is no surprise. The five point is still thefive point, whether playing nackgammon or regular backgammon. Nothingelse is close.

4-1: Snowie's preference is the spread-em-out play of 24/20, 23/22. Thismight look risky, but it does make sense. It is almost impossible forthe opponent to carry out a blitz, despite all those juicy targets. Therejust isn't enough ammunition, and with all that flexibility you are almostguaranteed to make an advanced anchor someplace. Second choice is themore conservative split of 23/18, which seems reasonable. The third choiceis the ultra-conservative 13/8. This ranks considerably higher than theseemingly normal building play of 23/22, 13/9. It appears as though thedouble indirect shot is too much to concede. Also, with the lack of ammunitionup front, having that fourth checker on the eight point is more valuable thanin normal backgammon.

5-1: It is a photo between 23/22, 13/8 and 24/18. Once again, Snowie reallylikes having that fourth checker on the eight point in nackgammon. However,the split to the enemy bar point is also productive.

6-1: No surprises here. Making the bar point is far better than anythingelse.

3-2: As one might expect, making the enemy four point is the clear winner.Grabbing that advanced anchor to start things off makes sure that nothingbad will happen. All the also-rans involved moving the back checker,not touching those precious spares on the midpoint. That seems to bethe theme of opening play in nackgammon, at least according to Snowie.

4-2: Making the offensive four point is the clear winner. It does goa bit deep, but it is still an important point. Nothing else isparticularly close.

5-2: It is a 3-horse race between: 23/21, 13/8; 24/22, 23/18; and 24/22, 13/8.The spread-em-out play once again is pretty good, as is the split andbring a builder down to the eight point. Interestingly enough, 23/18,13/11 is in a close fourth place. I guess the idea is that if youropponent hits the indirect shot you can probably make an anchor on hisbar point and play from there.

6-2: Almost anything is okay here. Five plays: 24/18, 23/21; 23/15;24/18, 13/11; 24/16; and 24/18, 24/22 are all too close to call. Theseplays follow the themes we have seen before, of spreading the back checkersout so as to try to form an advanced anchor.

4-3: Gold is gold. Making the enemy five point is way ahead of anythingelse, which is no surprise. This sort of opening play isn't availablefrom the standard backgammon start, but it is available with nackgammonand should be taken advantage of.

5-3: Making the three point is not Snowie's first choice, although itisn't terrible. Snowie prefers 23/20, 13/8, with 24/21, 13/8 in secondplace. I guess the three point is a bit deep for a nackgammon game,and working with the back checkers is more important. However, thespread-em-out play of 24/21, 23/18 was in fourth place here. Thatextra checker on the eight point really is important.

6-3: This time the spread-em-out play of 24/18, 23/20 wins out, probablymore by default than anything else. Both single checker runs of 24/15 and23/14 are a bit behind, and 24/18, 13/10 is farther behind still.

5-4: 24/20, 13/8 is a fairly clear winner over the alternatives. Again,the power of that spare on the eight point is significant.

6-4: The simple running play of 24/14 wins out narrowly over the double-splitof 24/20, 24/18 and the split and build play of 24/18, 13/9. This is oneof the more awkward opening rolls, since the checkers on the defensive twopoint are frozen so there aren't as many options as there are with theother opening rolls.

6-5: Making the defensive bar point is clear -- no second choice.

Just to give us more of an idea of things, I asked Snowie how it would playdoubles from the starting position.

1-1: 23/22(2), 6/5(2).

2-2: 13/11(2), 6/4(2) just about tied with 23/21(2), 6/4(2).

3-3: 23/20(2), 13/10(2).

4-4: 24/20(2), 13/9(2) just about tied with 13/5(2).

5-5: 23/18(2), 13/8(2).

6-6: 24/18(2), 13/7(2).

From the play of these opening rolls, it is clear that there is a strongemphasis on defense -- grabbing an advanced anchor. Dropping a builderinto the outer board is usually not a good idea. If both players takethis approach, we are very likely to lead to the complex mutual holdinggame such as the one in Goulding's Backgammon with the Champions.

So, what advice can one give for nackgammon? Basically just play goodbackgammon! All Goulding's philosophies are good, but do keep our oldfriend the race in mind. Just grab that advanced anchor and take it fromthere. If you want to play loose as a goose and possibly wind up in a backgamethat is up to you, but be very careful with this approach. Winning anackgammon game usually doesn't take any extra special tricks. The positionis complex by necessity -- you won't have to do anything fancy to createcomplexity. All you have to do is outplay your opponent, and in a complexposition you will have plenty of opportunity to demonstrate your skill.With the right combination of luck and skill, you may be meeting Nackhimself in the finals of one of the Gamesgrid nackgammon tournaments.