return to indexOur goal is to play as nearly perfect as we can. This means avoidingthe big blunders, or Whoppers as they are often referred to onGammOnLine. We can tolerate the small .01 or .02 errors -- in fact,quite often they turn out not to be errors. What we are trying to avoidis the .10 errors. Anybody who plays a match making no error greater than.02 or .03 in equity has played one very fine match.
In this article, I am going to discuss five common types of flawed thinking which are likely tolead to a big error. If you can avoid the errors discussed here, you willprobably be playing as close to perfection as you can.
1) Missing a candidate move
A long time ago, Paul Magriel told me that the most common checker playerrors didn't occur when a player made the wrong choice between twocandidates -- they occurred when a player never even saw one of thecandidates. He said this was true for players of every level, from noviceto world class. At the time I found that hard to believe. Perhaps it istrue for novices, but for world class players? Yet, experience has taughtme that Paul was 100% correct. When I analyze matches I have played overthe board and look at my big errors, in the majority of cases I never evenconsidered the correct play. Everybody has this problem, and everybodywill fall prey to this error.
How can we reduce the times we overlook the best move. Here are somesuggestions:
Don't play too quickly. I'm not suggesting stewing over every play for5 minutes -- in fact, I believe that can be detrimental to one's game. WhatI am suggesting is to not make the first reasonable-looking move you seewithout examining all the plausible alternatives. How are these alternativesfound? If you roll a 5-4, scan the entire board and see where each checkermoves 5 and each checker moves 4. Don't forget the possibility of taking theentire move with one checker. Many of the plays will be obviously absurd, butmake sure you have at least scanned them before you eliminate them. In fact,even before you roll the dice you should be having a good idea of where youwill be wanting your pieces to move. While your opponent is thinking abouthis play or while you are shaking your dice, you should be looking over theboard and seeing what pieces you are likely to want to move and where youwould like to move them. No doubt you have seen some experts play most oftheir rolls almost instaneously. You wonder how they could possibly haveanalyzed all the possible plays and come to a conclusion so quickly. Thesecret is that they have done a lot of their analysis before they haverolled. For example:
| 157 175 | White money game Blue |
Suppose you are Blue, on roll, in the above position. Your offensive structureis fine, and you don't figure to be able to improve it any this roll. It isthe three checkers stuck on White's ace point which are the sore spot in yourposition. As you are shaking the dice, you are mentally reaching for thatchecker on top of that pile to move it. You know that is what you want todo almost whatever you roll. If a 6-4 pops out, you don't have to think --you can just automatically play 24/14. If you roll 5-2, 24/22, 13/8 willjust play itself. And so on. Of course you would find these playsanyway, but the expert can make them instantly because he knows what he istrying to do with the position and where various numbers will take thecheckers he wants to move.
It may seem contradictory that I am suggesting that you don't play tooquickly, while at the same time showing how the expert plays quickly. Thisis not the case. What I am trying to illustrate is how by looking aheadthe expert can increase his efficiency scanning the board for plausiblecandidates.
Don't play half a move until you are 100% sure that it will be part ofyour play.
We have all seen experts roll a 5-2, play the 5, and then look around forthe best 2. We all do it ourselves. In fact, this is a good way tohelp visualize the resulting positions and analyze to possible 2's --provided that you have first determined with 100% certainty that thehalf of the roll you are playing is going to be part of every reasonablecandidate play. If you don't do this first and play a reflex half of aroll, you may very easily never see the best play as a candidate. Forexample:
| 158 167 | White money game Blue |
Your opponent opens with a 6-3, playing 24/18, 13/10. As you are shakingyour dice, you are thinking -- come on, baby -- give me an ace or a six --particularly a six -- I will be hitting. In fact, this thinking is quiteproper as far as it goes. Out comes a 6-3. Bang! 13/7* is obvious withthe six, so you play it. Then you examine the position after that sixhas been played, see that 24/21 and 13/10 are the logical possibilitiesfor the three, play one of them, and scoop up your dice.
As I'm sure all GammOnLine readers know, either of these plays would bea good-sized blunder. The clearly correct play is 24/15*. This also hits,but it rips away a key builder, gains more in the race, starts to escapea back checker, and leaves far fewer return shots. Yet, if you play 13/7*first and then look around for the best three, you are quite likely tocompletely overlook the best play. I'll grant that since this is a responseto an opening roll the position is so well known that most players aren'tlikely to make this error -- although I have seen it happen. However, inmore complex positions it is quite easy to believe that a part of one'splay is forced when, in fact, an entirely different use of the numberis considerably superior.
It should be noted that if Blue had instead rolled 6-2 in the aboveposition, then it would be quite proper technique to play 13/7* andlook around for the best two. The reason is that as Blue scans theposition for his candidate plays, he will soon see that the only tworeasonable candidates are 24/22, 13/7* and 13/11, 13/7*. Once Bluecomes to that conclusion then he is quite correct to play 13/7* andlook for the best two. The reason is that 13/7* is part of both ofhis candidate plays, so he should play that part of the roll. However,if Blue plays 13/7* before making the determination that this isgoing to be part of all of his candidate plays, he risks falling intothe trap.
Keep an open mind:
When examining the candidate plays, be sure not to prematurely eliminatea candidate because of some general principle which is usually correct.Each position is unique, and unexpected plays may turn out to be correct.Quite often a player will be able to analyze the position and come tothe proper conclusion -- provided that he considers the play in the firstplace. However, if the play doesn't pass his first screening because heis applying some general principle mistakenly for the position, then hehas no chance to analyze the play. For example:
| 97 140 | White money game Blue |
There are a lot of possibilities. Perhaps 13/9 with the 4, followedby 13/12 or 6/5 with the ace -- either of these aces has its pros andcons. Perhaps it is right to pay off to a 6-1 joker in order to getmore ammunition aimed at White's blot and play 9/5 with the 4. If Bluedoes that, should he play 13/12 with the ace, giving diversification butlosing a huge swing if White rolls 6-5? Or should he guard againstthis and play 5/4 with the ace? Or maybe Blue should hit loose withthe 4, following the good general principle of not giving the opponentone roll which escapes the back checker. If Blue does hit loose, doeshe follow with the very big 9/8, or the more conservative 13/12? So manypossibilities to choose from.
The fact of the matter is that I haven't even mentioned the best play.It is 13/8!. This may seem very unintuitive to many players. We haveall been taught how dangerous it is to slot the back edge of a prime intoa direct shot, particularly when the opponent has a strong board. It thisposition, however, it is a standout play. The key is that Blue's entirefocus has to be on containing White's back checker. White is way ahead inthe race, but if Blue can contain this checker he has a good chance offorcing White's position to crack after which Blue will be in great shape.If White is rolling a six, Blue is likely to be in trouble anyway.Furthermore, if White doesn't hit Blue will be threatening to make eithera five-prime or a solid six-prime, and he will probably be able to sendover a cube which White will not enjoy seeing. I'm sure that most readerscan understand why 13/8 is the best play by far, and if they considered theplay as a candidate they would probably come to the right conclusion overthe board. However, if they immediately eliminate it from the list ofcandidates because it leaves a direct shot which allows White to flee at thesame time, they will never have the opportunity to appreciate the fullmerits of the play.
2) Losing the forest through the trees
Playing expert backgammon requires looking at the whole board, not justbits and pieces. Quite often players are unable or unwilling to do this,and focus on small details which may be of very minor importance. Forexample:
| 105 89 | White money game Blue |
What is the best play? I haven't the foggiest idea. What I do know itthat the equity difference between any of the reasonsble playsis going to be tiny. I guess I would play 16/15, 14/12, but some otherplay might be a bit better. I would not spend any time on the play at all --I would just grab a couple of checkers and put them on what seems to begood places. However, I have seen players study this sort of positionfor a couple of minutes. They are trying to work out what will happenif they roll 5-5 followed by 6-6 or something like that. It isn'tworth it. First of all, these are very low probabality events. Secondly,keeping diversified and bearing in smoothly is more important thanguarding against specific sequences. It is often correct to pay offto boxes leaving an immediate shot if the alternative involves anugly structure. In this sort of position, spending time trying to workout the best play is simply a waste of mental energy, and it is quite likelyto lead to the wrong play anyway. These same players might make a snapjudgment on a really critical decision because they can't mathematicallyanalyze it. Note that I wouldn't be playing my 2-1 randomly. Any play Iwould choose would wind up with the outfield checkers on three differentpoints since I know from general principles that a high priority is todiversify as much as possible.
Contrast with:
| 129 99 | White money game Blue |
Blue can either play safe with 13/8, 6/2 or he can make the big playand hit loose with 13/4*. Obviously 13/4* will win more gammons,but getting hit back would be bad and Blue is well ahead in the race.Which play is best is not immediately obvious. This is potentially acritical decision, and while the two plays might turn out to beclose it is also possible that one play is way better than the otherplay. There are a ton of factors to weigh -- White's board strength,Blue's lead in the race, Blue's potential awkardness if he doesn't hitloose, Blue's ability to cover if he survives the loose hit, Blue'simproved gammon chances after hitting, White's timing problems, White'spotential recube if Blue hits and White hits back, the match score ifplaying a match, and so on and so on. The point is that thissort of play can't be calculated. Yes, it is easy to see that if Bluehits White has 13 return shots, 7 rolls which enter without hitting,and 16 flunks, but what does one do with this information? Hitting isgreat when White doesn't hit back (particularly when White flunks), butterrible when White does hit back. Equating the great and the terrible inthe proper weighings is very difficult, even for the best players and botsin the world. The important thing to realize is that this is likely tobe a critical decision, and this is the type of position which it is worthtaking your time on. Yet, the same players who will ponder over the2-1 for 2 minutes in the previous position will make a snap judgment inthis sort of position because they know that they won't be able tocalculate it out. Granted one will have to go by feel to some extent, butthis position deserves a lot of thought.
When faced with a murky play problem, many players will try to find somethingsolid upon which they can base their decision. They may count shots,count pips, look at duplication, anything which gives them a quantitativebasis for their choice. While all of these factors matter, quite oftenthey are relatively unimportant. Usually the overall position is themost important thing, and that can be judged only by experience andfeel. If a player focuses on one little aspect of the position, he islikely to wander astray. For example:
| 156 182 | White money game Blue |
The shot counter sees that B/18, 13/7 leaves only 11 shot numbers, whileB/18 exposes the blot to a triple shot which is at least 27 shot numbers(29 to be exact if my count is correct). That could easily persuade himto play B/24, 13/7. In fact, B/18 is considerably superior. The positionis better balanced -- B/24, 13/7 strips the midpoint. White has to breakan important point to hit on his bar point, while White would love to hit withthe spare checker on Blue's two point. Blue loses much more ground ifhe is hit on his side of the board than on the other side of the board.In addition this position is about outfield control, and B/18 brings anotherBlue checker to bear on the outfield while B/24, 13/7 takes a checker away.The quality of the hit combined with the overall position makes B/18much better, but a player who concentrates on the little stuff can easilycount the shots, lose the forest through the trees, and play B/24, 13/7.
3) Mis-evaluating priorities:
Choosing a play is easy if there is only one play which does everythingyou want to do. With the difficult play decisions, there are often severalplays which each have their plusses and minuses. Weighing these plusses andminuses correctly is the key to finding the best play.
Have a game plan:
With every play you make you should have some idea in mind what youare trying to accomplish. Of course there are often severalintertwining game plans, and the one which should be emphasized maybe determined by the dice roll you get. Still, it is worth a lotto know what your main objective and secondary objectives are going\into the dice roll, so when the roll comes you can choose wisely. Forexample:
| 143 152 | White money game Blue |
Before the dice roll, what does Blue want to do most? His big problemis his back checker. It is stuck by itself behind a growing prime andfacing a strong board. If Blue can just escape that back checker, he willbe in fine shape. If you asked him what his best roll is, he wouldsay 6-5 without hesitating. Sure building up the board would be nice,but with White anchored on Blue's three point Blue can't attack and heis unlikely to be able to prime White successfully. Running thatback checker to safety clearly should be Blue's number one priority.
In order to run that back checker, Blue needs a six other than 6-1 or 6-6.As he is shaking his dice, he is mentally reaching for that back checker,hoping he rolls that six. And so he did! If Blue concentrates on stickingto his main game plan, he will play 24/15 and not be led off his path withthe prospect of making his five point. Not only does 11/5, 8/5 not reallyaccomplish what Blue is trying to do -- the play strips the eight point,loses the 11 point, leaves a dangerous blot in Blue's outer board, andcramps Blue's position. Yet, without a focus on the main game plan,which is to escape the back checker, Blue might well get this play wrong. Infact, a world class player did make this error in a late round of abig tournament.
Play the position:
There are plenty of examples of this. If you are ahead in the race, tryto disentangle and go for a straight race. If you are behind in therace, attempt to maintain contact. If your opponent has only one manback, put extra effort into preventing that checker from escaping.If your opponent has a four or five-prime containing one checker, gettingthat checker to the edge is important. If your opponent has an attack force,making an anchor is vital. When there are conflicting priorities, a littlecommon sense will often lead you to what is best for the position:
| 151 118 | White money game Blue |
Blue can hit the second checker, or he can escape the back man.Running is the better play to win the game. If Blue hits and ishit back, he will have two checkers which have to escape and Whitewill be back in action. However, hitting loose will win moregammons, and if Blue can win the fight for his three point he will havea great position. Is it worth the risk? Blue has the strongerboard and has made a deep point. If White anchors on Blue's threepoint, Blue is going to have plenty of problems even if he escapes.White's blockade isn't insurmountable. Blue has enough checkers on themidpoint so crunching isn't an immediate danger. The point is thatBlue's position is more blitz oriented than anything else, so thatshould be what Blue is concentrating on. Changes in the positionsuch as strengthening White's board or blockade could change thisquickly, but the actual position screams attack and Blue should play13/10, 9/3*.
Do what the dice tell you:
You aren't always going to get the rolls you want. You have to play whatyou roll. The expert will make the most of his dice rolls, even thoughthe roll may not correspond to the preferred game plan. In particular,if there is something which needs to be done and you roll the numberto do it, think twice before using the roll for something else eventhough that something else may be more in line with what you would liketo accomplish.
| 143 127 | White money game Blue |
Blue would sure like to lock up the bar point, and that is one of hismajor goals. However, making the bar point involves releasing both thenine point and the midpoint, and leaving that direct shot on the midpoint.In addition, Blue can use the roll very profitably to run the backchecker. That is what the dice are telling him to do, even thoughmaking the bar point is such a great improvement.
4) Making awkward plays:
We don't control the dice when we play backgammon. The dice control us.They tell us the limitations of what moves we can make, and often thesemoves aren't the moves we would like to make. The secret to successis to position your checkers in such a way so as many rolls as possibleare good rolls. This is sometimes called flexibility, although it isreally more a matter of being prepared. If you watch an expert play, itwill appear that he gets less than his share of bad rolls. This isn'tluck or accident. The reason he seems to get less than his share ofbad rolls is that he positions his checkers so as to minimize the numberof bad rolls in the future.
Keep checkers in play:
We all know that burying checkers is bad. What is often not realized isjust how bad. Of course sometimes you will have to bury checkers.When you are bearing in against an anchor and your opponent has astrong board, safety is the absolute number one priority and it isvery rarely correct to volunteer a shot. This is not true earlierin the game.
| 167 158 | White money game Blue |
We have all been taught the importance of the race in mutual holding games,so it may seem worthwhile to make the awkward play of 8/2, 6/4. It isn't.Taking a checker out of play on the Two-Point and stripping the eightpoint is quite damaging to Blue's position. If he makes this play, he islikely to find that every play after this will play equally awkwardlyunless he rolls perfectly. Blue should play 13/7, 6/4, the naturaldeveloping play which gives him nothing but good numbers next turn ifWhite doesn't hit. Blue won't like it if White hits, but the hit is farfrom fatal. Interestingly enough, in the old days nobody would evenconsider anything but 13/7, 6/4, since going to the two point is soanti-positional. Today we realize the importance of the race, but it isstill necessary to make comfortable plays.
Leave future plays:
The idea behind avoiding awkwardness is to give yourself ways to handleless than ideal rolls comfortably while waiting for the good rolls.This doesn't always lead to the prettiest position. For example:
| 142 130 | White money game Blue |
8/5, 6/4 may look like the obvious play, but actually it is quite wrong.The proper play is the seemingly ugly 13/8. Beauty is in the eyes ofthe beholder, and the expert sees that the big pile of checkers on theeight point, usually, an eyesore, is a beautiful thing. Blue is tryingto clear his midpoint against White's bar point holding game, and Bluewill need as much time as possible if he doesn't roll his eventual doublesfor quite a while. The more checkers Blue has on his eight point, thelonger he can stave off the evil day when he is forced to break his eightpoint and then get squeezed off the midpoint. In addition, 13/8 preparesto clear the midpoint next roll if Blue rolls doubles. Those spareson the eight point permit Blue to swallow a bunch of poor rolls, andthus create extra Flexibility in this position.
Avoid ugly structures:
We all know instinctively what is ugly in backgammon. Three or more checkerspiled on a deep point. A stripped six point or some other key point.These defects in a position lead to lack of flexibility, which in turnleads to more rolls which destroy the position. Any time you see yourselfmaking a play which creates an ugly structure, stop. Put the pieces back,and look around to see if you can do better. Sometimes there is no choice,but quite often a little thought will reveal a more comfortable play.
| 122 97 | White money game Blue |
6/2 may look like the obvious play. Wait! Three checkers on the twopoint? Maybe more in the future, since Blue may eventually have to playa six from the eight point to the two point. Ugly play! Put it back andlook to see if there is something else. Once you realize that Blue doesn'tneed to keep his board right now since White isn't going to be leavinga shot, it becomes clear that there are other possibilities. 4/1, 2/1is more flexible, and spreads the checkers out better, but thisplay does cost Blue the four point and he may not be able to get it back.6/3, 2/1 holds the four point and avoids the ugly mess on the two point.Three checkers on the three point isn't nearly as bad as three checkerson the two point, since the spare can be moved with either an ace ora two. The downside to this play (as compared to 4/1, 2/1) is that itloses one of the critical spares on the six point. I don't know whichof these plays is better, but they both look a lot better to my eye than6/2. Three men on the two point? Ugly play!
Let all numbers play
Any time you make a play, it is worthwhile to check that all of yournumbers, particularly 4's, 5's, and 6's can play decently next turn. Youwould hate to have a simple 4 or 5 on one of your dice destroy yourposition. Sometimes there is no choice, but often a little thoughtcan save a lot of grief.
| 153 80 | White money game Blue |
Making the bar point with 11/7, 9/7 may look like an automatic play tosome players, but it is actually a very poor play. The problem is: Howdoes Blue play his fives? 6-5 and 5-4 leave an immediate shot, and otherfives except 5-1 force Blue to break his six point with the bar pointstill uncleared. Since Blue has three checkers on the bar point it will takehim two rolls to clear it, and if he rolls a five on either of his nexttwo rolls it won't be pretty. If Blue looks at how future numbers will play,it will be apparent that 11/7, 9/7 leads to a very awkward position. Muchbetter is 11/9, 7/3. Now Blue can play anything decently, and at worsthe will have to leave an indirect shot clearing the nine point.
5) Failure to cube:
There are several different kinds of cube errors, but this is by far themost common and most costly. Let's see what can be done about it:
Every roll is a new cube decision:
If a player learns and acts on the above sentence, that will improve hisgame more than any other possible advice. If the cube is in the center oron your side, the first thing you should think about before rolling thedice is whether or not to double. I mean every roll! It is true thatfor the large majority of your rolls the decision to not double is trivial,but by training yourself to do this you will not be making the bigmistake of not doubling because you forgot to think about it. How oftenhave we all seen the following sort of scenario:
Blue opens with 4/2 (8/4, 6/4), and White responds with 5-4 (24/20, 13/8).This leaves:
| 158 161 | White money game Blue |
Obviously nothing special has happened yet. Now Blue rolls 4-4(13/5(2)*, andWhite rolls 5-3 (B/22, 13/8) leaving us:
| 155 145 | White money game Blue |
Blue now rolls 5-5, a crusher (8/3(2)*, 6/1(2)*). White flunks, leaving:
| 159 125 | White money game Blue |
Playing for money, Blue would have to cash. In a match, Blue can play onfor a gammon. He does so, and gets his gammon. After the game is over,he asks me if he was correct to play for a gammon. How should I answer?
The answer is that there is no answer, because the question is incomplete.I would have to know which turn Blue was talking about. If he were toask me if it was correct for him to play for the gammon after rolling the5-5, I could say yes. But what about after the 4-4? Why didn't Bluedouble? Did he think he wasn't good enough? Did he think he was toogood? Or, as I'm sure was the case, did he simply forget about the cube?In fact Blue has a very strong double at that point, and White has a proper take.Blue's failure to double after rolling the 4-4 was a huge blunder. Hesimply rolled without thinking about the cube. It happens all the time, andit is the single most common and most costly error backgammon players make.
Don't wait and see:
It is common to reach a position where if things go well on the nextexchange you will be crushing your opponent with good gammon chances, butif things go badly you could be in trouble quickly. Many players takethe wait and see what happens approach. They figure that if they get agood roll they can play on for a gammon, while if they get a bad rollthey will be happy they didn't double. This approach is sometimes correctnear the end of a match when the player needs fewer than 4 points towin the match, but for money or at an even match score it is a terribleblunder -- one of the biggest. Here is a typical such position:
| 138 131 | White money game Blue |
Blue can see that if he rolls a four he is going to have a very powerfulposition -- one which he could almost surely cash if necessary anda good shot at a gammon if White rolls badly from the bar. On theother hand, if Blue flunks White will be a favorite to makehis four point and then it is anybody's game. It may be tempting towait and see, but that is exactly the wrong thing to do. Turn the cube,roll that four, and win 4 points instead of 2 points. If the gameturns around, so be it. The odds are heavily weighted in favor ofdoubling.
Don't let the big ones get away
The more volatile the position, the more correct it is to turn the cubeprovided you have some kind of overall advantage. The reason is thatif you win the next exchange, you could lose your market by a countrymile. The previous position is a good example of this. Contrast withturning the cube when your opponent has a solid holding game. Assuminghe has a take, you aren't likely to lose your market by much on thenext exchange whatever happens. Thus, failing to double isn't goingto be very costly. With volatile positions such as blitzes, it isanother story. If you roll well and he rolls badly, your equitycould shoot up into the stratosphere. You can't risk having this happenwithout the cube being turned first. That is why it is often correct todouble a blitz with a cubeless equity of around .380, while it might notbe correct to double a holding game with a cubeless equity of .480.
Follow Woolsey's law
I have written enough on this in the past, but it bears repeating.When you can't say for sure whether or not your opponent has a take,then it is always correct to double. There are many examples of this.In fact, most proper cube turns will probably fit into this category.Maybe it actually is a pass, if you aren't sure. Maybe he will pass.Mabye the double is correct anyway. Unless your assessment of the positionis way off, if you think there is even the slightest chance that it mightbe a pass then you can never be far wrong doubling, and you may be veryright.
Watch for the turnaround
Once you have decided to play on for a gammon, the decision is not etchedin stone. Every roll is a new cube decision. Before every turn, you mustreconsider the decision to play on for the gammon. If your opponentstarts to make some progress, it may be correct to cash before he gets tothe point where he has a clear take. The window of opportunity may bevery small -- possibly just one roll. If you miss that window and he rollsanother good number, you will find yourself in danger of losing a gamewhich should have been yours for the taking.
| 154 101 | White money game Blue |
Let's say that you rolled some joker, and arrived at the above position.Clearly you have a good play-on for a gammon. The gammon chancesare very good, with the potential to close out three White checkers,and your advantage is so great that you will probably be able to cash laterif necessary. But things don't go that way. You roll a poor 3-2 (13/8),and your opponent rolls 6-2 and enters a checker. Now we have:
| 152 96 | White money game Blue |
Hold it! Every roll is a new cube decision. Last turn you were playingon for a gammon, but this is a different position. White has his anchor,so the gammon chances have decreased considerably. In addition, thelosing chances have gone up. You may not escape White's blockade in time,or White may win from the two point anyway. This re-evaluation makes itclear that it is no longer correct to play for the gammon. It is vitalto double NOW. White probably has a pass -- if he chooses to take thatis his business and you won't care much either way. If you wait justone more roll, it could be costly. If you fail to escape and White entershis last checker, now White will have a huge take if you should dare toturn the cube (which you shouldn't). The window of opportunity would haveslipped by if you failed to double when you should.
The above types of errors are perhaps the five most common and most expensiveerros made by players at all levels. If you can avoidthese errors, you will be playing backgammon as well as humanly possible.