Quote:
Originally Posted by Hindoo
In the introduction of Magriel's classic book he writes Backgammon is emphatically not a game of mathematical calculations. In view of all the computer analysis today, I find this hard to believe.
Magriel was essentially correct, although there are a couple of parts of the game where knowing a formula can help (the bearoff, doubling in tournament play).
The backgammon programs help you understand which move is correct in certain situations, although grasping the underlying theory behind the bot's moves is quite difficult.
When the bots do rollouts, they produce reams of numbers, which can look intimidating and don't convey much information. Some players like to cut-and-paste these into their posts, which usually only serves to intimidate the average player and give a misleading impression as to what the game is all about. If I refer to a rollout result in one of my problem explanation, I try to boil it down to the essentials, which (I think) makes problems easier to grasp.