Hey guys, I'm still fairly new to backgammon, but have been playing pretty non stop lately and really enjoying it. This is prob a pretty basic spot but it kinda blew my mind when the computer was hitting me here (I'm black) when he had several opportunities. As expected based on that knowledge, my computer "hints" are advising me to stay put on opps 4 point instead of running.

Was hoping someone could give me some insight into this thought process, and also any recs on articles, books etc to read would be awesome. This is my first post in this forum so please also feel free to tell me if my format for posting sucks and how to do it better next time. Thanks!

Hi Chip,

Your picture is a bit small, but what I see is that you have a full-prime (6 points in a row).

So the problem for your opponent is that he cannot play the 2 checkers on the 23-point.

When he hits you on the 4-point you may stay on the bar a while or enter,
but there is a rather good probability that you will hit another checker, so red can only lose extra gammons by hitting you.

I suggest you put this position on a board and let red hit with double-2, and then play it a few times manually, just to see what happens.
I think you will understand the idea after playing it a few times.

The 501 problems-book from Bill Robertie is a good book, I learned a lot from it when I started.

greetings k.

When the roles are reversed, and GnuBg has me on the ropes behind a prime like this, my hog computer stays back, and tries to hit me again!

In the position you posted, I assume the computer recommends playing safe this time. It can do that by pushing the checkers on the 5pt down to the 3pt and 1pt. But notice how precarious the resulting position is. Any 3, 4 or 5 must be played from the 6pt. Two or three turns from now, your computer opponent may be forced to leave a blot on the 6pt.

You should wait to see how things develop. One or two turns, and possibly more, is fine, but don’t wait too long. If things don’t go you way, you’ll have to start your runner on its way.

But there is little risk in lurking a bit longer.

BTW: I cannot read the fine type in your diagram, but unless this is the Crawford game, or a dead cube situation from a match, it is likely that you missed a cube turn along the line. At normal match scores, this is too good to double right now. But earlier, it was probably Double/Take at some point. It may also have been Double/Pass earlier, prior to becoming Too Good. In a cash game, because of the Jacoby Rule, this is Double/Pass as soon as you get access to the cube.

The book recommended by kruidenbuiltje, in an excellent value, and worth several reads. You can pick it up at Amazon for about $15.

501 Essential Backgammon Problems
By Bill Robertie
http://www.bkgm.com/books/Robertie-5...nProblems.html
http://www.amazon.com/501-Essential-...dp_ob_title_bk

Another resource you should check out is the index of free articles at Tom Keith’s web site Backgammon Galore! Click Articles, by Author, and then begin by delving into those by Nack Ballard, Bill Robertie, Kit Woolsey and Mary Hickey. After you get a feel for how the web site works, you can begin picking articles by subject as well as author.

Backgammon Galore!
http://www.bkgm.com/
http://www.bkgm.com/articles/authors.html

Hope this helps.