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Problem of the Week #56: Solution
04-04-2010
, 01:33 PM
Problem of the Week #56: Solution
Cash game, center cube.
Black to play 4-1.
Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.
Is backgammon a simple game? No, not at all. There’s a lot you have to know, a lot of technique you have to master, a few formulas to memorize. But some elements of backgammon are easy. At bottom, backgammon’s about hitting blots, making points, and winning the race.
Problem 56 is about as easy as it gets for an early position that’s non-trivial. If backgammon is about hitting blots and making points, then the right play practically jumps out: 9/5* 6/5, making the best point on the board (Black’s 5-point), hitting a blot in the process, and putting several builders to work on the next point to make, Black’s 4-point.
If our only concern were to avoid being hit next turn, then we’d play 7/2. That’s the safest play. But it’s also useless and unconstructive, killing a builder while starting a weak point. If we’re so worried about being hit that we have to resort to 7/2, shouldn’t White be worried about being hit as well? If we’re afraid of being hit when White has no board and a weak outside prime, shouldn’t White be terrified of being hit when we have a 3-point board and a bunch of builders bearing down on another blot? One technique for locating the right play is to put yourself in the other player’s position and ask yourself “What play don’t I want my opponent to make?” If you’re White, are you more afraid of 7/2, or of 9/5* 6/5? If I’m White in this position, I’m praying my opponent plays 7/2.
Only one other play is worth considering, the double-hit with 9/5*/4*. It’s a decent play, much better than 7/2, but it has the big disadvantage of not actually making any point. Even if Black doesn’t get hit and then covers next turn, he’ll have made the 4-point rather than the stronger 5-point. Better to simply take the 5-point now when you have the chance.
Solution: 9/5* 6/5.
Cash game, center cube.
Black to play 4-1.
Note: All ‘cash game’ problems assume the Jacoby Rule is in effect. That is, you can’t win a gammon unless the cube has been turned.
Is backgammon a simple game? No, not at all. There’s a lot you have to know, a lot of technique you have to master, a few formulas to memorize. But some elements of backgammon are easy. At bottom, backgammon’s about hitting blots, making points, and winning the race.
Problem 56 is about as easy as it gets for an early position that’s non-trivial. If backgammon is about hitting blots and making points, then the right play practically jumps out: 9/5* 6/5, making the best point on the board (Black’s 5-point), hitting a blot in the process, and putting several builders to work on the next point to make, Black’s 4-point.
If our only concern were to avoid being hit next turn, then we’d play 7/2. That’s the safest play. But it’s also useless and unconstructive, killing a builder while starting a weak point. If we’re so worried about being hit that we have to resort to 7/2, shouldn’t White be worried about being hit as well? If we’re afraid of being hit when White has no board and a weak outside prime, shouldn’t White be terrified of being hit when we have a 3-point board and a bunch of builders bearing down on another blot? One technique for locating the right play is to put yourself in the other player’s position and ask yourself “What play don’t I want my opponent to make?” If you’re White, are you more afraid of 7/2, or of 9/5* 6/5? If I’m White in this position, I’m praying my opponent plays 7/2.
Only one other play is worth considering, the double-hit with 9/5*/4*. It’s a decent play, much better than 7/2, but it has the big disadvantage of not actually making any point. Even if Black doesn’t get hit and then covers next turn, he’ll have made the 4-point rather than the stronger 5-point. Better to simply take the 5-point now when you have the chance.
Solution: 9/5* 6/5.
Last edited by Robertie; 04-06-2010 at 10:59 PM.
