Hey, backgammon beginner here trying to learn more and improve my game. I've seen many quality posts on these forums so I decided to come here for help! Today I was playing BG live and these two positions came up during the game, they confused me so I wanted to ask a few questions.



In this one I saw two options: 1) Come out with 21/16 and safety the two blots by playing 10/9 and creating a 9-point, or 2) Playing 8/3*/2* and putting two of my opponents checkers on the bar simultaneously.

Unfortunately, in game I made the blunder and picked the latter option as I have a silly tendency to always go for aggressive hits when presented with the opportunity. My reasoning was that if my opponent doesn't roll a 2 then he/she is in a bad spot and I can cover the blot on my 2-point with a 6, 4, or 3, so a lot of the time. Also I'll have plenty of flexibility with the 3 blots afterwards. Now I see that if I do get hit then I'm in quite a bit of trouble because it puts my opponent in a spot where they can hit me back a lot too.

So, anything else I should be thinking about here?

I can see that coming out is pretty nice as it escapes my final back checker and if my opponent wants to attack that final man back, he/she has to give up the mid-point to do so. Also 10/9 creates a broken 4-prime and makes for a solid structure overall (landing spots for my blot).


I'll post the other position once I get some opinions / info on this one!

Thank you so much for your help!

In order to attack, you essentially have to give up two very nice assets -- the 8 and 9 points, so that's pretty expensive.

Also, you're attacking behind Red's anchor, so even when it works, it's not like you have an easy ride home, Red will often be left with a playable 4 point anchor game. Compare to when Red is anchored on the 1 point, or doesn't have an anchor at all. When it works there, Red may have 4 checkers pinned down. (Not saying it would be right to hit twice there, just the the upside from getting away with the attack would be higher).

Z's response is right on the money. I'll just add one other thought. You're up 20 pips in the race now, and 26 after you play. So you need to be thinking about reasonable plays that help you convert your racing advantage. 10/9 is a great ace because it both blocks Red and provides a new landing spot for your back checkers as they come around. 8/3*/2* breaks a good point, leaves five blots scattered around, and puts your whole racing lead at risk when Red rolls a deuce.

Thank you so much for the help guys, this makes sense and I understand the position now. Attacking behind the anchor is not a great thing (hitting behind the anchor is generally less valuable).

And being ahead in the race obviously incentivizes me to play more carefully too. And the 5 blots from my hitting play leave me very vulnerable indeed for a counterattack.

Here's the other position that I misplayed:



Here the right play would have been to do 5/2 to cover the blot in my home board and then make either my 8-point or my 9-point.

Instead I once again made the stupid mistake of only looking at hitting and moved 2/1* and 8/5.

Minor point, but in your second position I would guess that it’s just a bit better to make the 9 point than the 8. If you make the 8 and cover your 2 point, your opponent hits with 64, 63, 61 and 33, for a total of 7 rolls. If you make the 9 point he hits with 44, 43 and 41, a total of 5 rolls — two fewer.

I said I’d guess because there may be considerations other than return shots in play, such as longer term safety when trying to bear in and break the point you make on this roll. Certainly making the 9 point is safer immediately though.

Typically it's right to make the point that forms a more compact position. My money is on the 8

In that first one, hitting two wouldn't even occur to me. Both players have several men back so this is going to be a long game and circulation and outfield control are key. My candidate plays would be 16 and 9 or 18 and 9

Thanks for the further input, really helpful! Maybe one day I'll improve and learn to ask more sophisticated questions, for now it'll probably be more silly mistakes incoming :P

Hi pilliapina, here's, a handy saying from Marc Olsen that may help with your first position; "PRIME an anchor, BLITZ a blot".

Maybe somebody else was earlier than Olsen...

No doubt but beside the point, don't you think?

Well, we are here on Roberties site, so it would be nice to give him the credits, wouldnt it?

I won't claim any credit, but that idea was generally understood 40 years ago!

I am the last person to disrespect Bill. I was just giving a quick answer to the op. Did not mean to give Marc credit as the originator (not that I knew anyway) but I can see how that may have been construed by my (rushed) wording, sorry for any confusion or otherwise.

Hey, not a big deal. I didn't want to bother or disrespect.