Hello!



I was white and doubled. Why was this wrong?

I like the PRAT guidelines of Paul Lamford but here they are not working at all. I have the better position, I am leading in the race and and I have the threat of hitting the blot. But still I shouldn't double.

I know that experts learn reference positions by heart. Would a reference position you know be helpful here? Which one?

For non contact positions there are count systems like Thorp count which helped me reduce my cube blunders. Is there any count system for contact positions?

First, we need some more information. Is this a money game or a match situation? If it's a match, what's the score? If it's a money game then it's no double and trivial take. If the score is 4-4 to 11, it's no double and easy take. If White is trailing 0-7 to 11, it's now a small double and still an easy take.

Next, you need to recognize that backgammon 'rules' aren't really rules like 2 + 2 = 4. They're more like starting points or informed suggestions. Lamford's PRAT Rule should be interpreted as "If you have a better position, and you're ahead in the race, and you have a threat which is strong enough so that your opponent will drop next turn if you execute it, then you probably have a double."

In this situation, you have a slightly better position, a small racing lead, and a threat (rolling a four) which might make him drop if you execute it. (But maybe not.) That all adds up to an advantage for you, but not a big enough advantage to double.

Reference positions are mostly for various late game situations. In a position like this, a good player would just draw on experience and make an educated guess. "I stand better, but I'm not doubling yet."

There are no counts for complex early and middle game positions. The various counts are just for races.

Thanks for your explanations. It was a money game.

So it's no double because the position advantage, the racing lead and the threat were all too small. The problem for beginners like me is: How big has a position advantage, racing lead or threat to be in order to justify a double? Are there borders (for instance for the racing lead)? Are there tables of the sort: When you have 1 hitting chance and 2 more points then you need the racing lead x. When you have 1 hitting chance and 1 more point then you need the racing lead y and so on?

If not and there are also no reference positions or counts for such situations how can I ever decide them correctly?

All the features of the position play a role in impacting the final decision. There are no simple counts or tables of the form you're mentioning.

You'll decide them correctly by becoming a better player, and you'll do that with the same process that everyone else who became a good player went through. You study and you play and you study more and you play more. Six months from now you'll be a better player then you are now. A year after that you'll be a better player than you were before. And so on, and so on. Everybody who ever got good at something went through the same process. Playing backgammon well is hard to do, and you have to put in a LOT of work to get there.