Dobias - The Magic of Backgammon: 20 Lessons for the Developing Player

Radek Dobias

Copyright 2013 Radek Dobias
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or in any means by electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission.

Where am I, or what? From what causes do I derive my existence, and to what condition shall I return? ... I am confounded with all these questions, and begin to fancy myself in the most deplorable condition imaginable, enclosed with the deepest darkness, and utterly deprived of the use of every member and faculty. Most fortunately it happens, that since Reason is incapable of dispelling these clouds, Nature herself suffices to that purpose, and cures me of this philosophical melancholy and delirium, either by relaxing this bent of mind, or by some avocation, and lively impression of my senses, which obliterate all these chimeras. I dine, I play a game ofbackgammon, I converse, and am merry with my friends. And when, after three or four hours' amusement, I would return to these speculations, they appear so cold, and strained, and ridiculous, that I cannot find in my heart to enter into them any farther.

-David Hume

To my parents. You did quite a number on me. I will never forget that.

To Ami. Your smile always makes my day.

To screenwriters of Lost, who got me into backgammon in the first place.

Backgammon affords deep intellectual gratification, attainable through careful analytic thinking and a personal commitment to constant improvement. In those regards, mistakes are the most fruitful field to explore. The subtler facets of the game that we either do not understand or only partially grasp are what keeps backgammon from ever becoming boring or trite.

Chances are you feel the same. I suspect you have a strong passion for the game, otherwise you would not be reading this book. You may be a beginner, an intermediate player, or an expert. It doesn't matter, as all players can get something out of it.

If you are a beginner, you may be wondering if this book is too difficult for you. Let me assure you that it isn't. You may find many positions and concepts challenging, as they will go against what you know or think you know about backgammon. But don't worry. There is enough in the book to teach you what is correct and what it isn't... and why that is the case.

If you are an intermediate player (which I define as someone between a beginner and an expert), you will get the most out of this book. That's because the concepts and examples contained herein challenge the thinking of typical intermediate players and point out the mistakes they often make.

If you are an expert, it is my hope that the book may afford you the pleasure of studying interesting positions, as well as testing yourself to see if your backgammon skills indeed match with reality.

It is my hope that readers spend many enjoyable moments with the book, and that the ideas and the analysis are helpful and revealing.

After playing chess, go, hex, othello, mahjong, and poker for many years, I discovered backgammon. I instantly fell in love with it, and started playing seriously. I climbed from an absolute beginner to an expert (1900+ rating) in a matter of only 3 months by playing against strong AI (Artificial Intelligence software) for several hours every day.

I am not alone in achieving such a feat. Nack Ballard is famous for becoming one of the best in the world in the same way (not that I would claim to be one of the best :)). In fact, such training has become the new orthodoxy among backgammon players worldwide. AI is better than humans, and has been for a long time. It is the ultimate opponent and tutor.

However, merely playing against the computer is not sufficient. There is a need to be able to understand the software's evaluations using dynamic principles. There are good, rational reasons why certain moves are better than others. In each lesson, we will explore these.

By rules, I mean the rules of thumb such as 'always make the 5 point' or 'when you can, hit', not the rules of the game.

Rules of thumb are great for beginners, because they give easy-to-follow guidelines. These are especially valuable in unclear, tricky situations that no beginner could possibly evaluate with accuracy.

However, rules become less important and even detrimental to intermediate players. There is a danger of playing on auto-pilot. Instead of taking time to analyze a position, the player simply applies a rule without thinking about the context of his play.

For experts, the rules are unnecessary. Experts know the rules, but are keenly aware of strategic context which determines if any particular rule applies in a given situation. They don't make 5 points automatically nor do they hit blindly.

Experts often reason from first principles, especially when faced with unclear or unfamiliar positions.

Examples of principles would be: 'greater mobility is preferable to lesser mobility', or 'you can play more boldly if you have an advanced anchor'. For a list of good principles, see Appendix B.

Rules are great, but playing from principles means knowing when to break the rules. That's what this book is about.

The lessons and the problems in this book are about checker play; there are no cube situations included. This is because the developing player should first focus on checker play and only after mastering it, should concern himself with the cube.

The cube decisions are the hardest part of the backgammon.

Walk before you can fly.

Learn to walk well.

All positions come from real games and were analyzed with GNU Backgammon, cubeful, 1-point matches, on the Grandmaster setting (3-ply).

You are always black to play. Your nemesis is always white and referred to as a 'she'. This is not a dig at women, but simply a convention to make the text more readable.

Each discussion includes a percentage position evaluation, expressed as MWC (Match Winning Chances). Thus, the best move will always have a higher MWC than the alternatives.

The alternatives are includes for at least 2 reasons:

1. It is crucial to recognize alternative moves.

2. It is educational to analyze and discuss 2nd and 3rd best moves, and to know why they fall short.

But enough talking.

It's Black to move.

Let's start simple.

The game is one move old. The opponent rolled 6/1 and predictably made the bar point.

How do you make the most of your 3s?

Discussion

The opponent started building her prime, so it's a good idea to play 24/12(2) to create an advanced anchor. But what about the other 3s?

You can make the 5 point with 8/5(2), but should you?

We are conditioned by classic backgammon teachers to think of making the 5 point as a 'must' play. Phil Simborg is fond of telling stories of his lessons with Nack Ballard. With respect to what he learned from Nack, he says:

The best lesson I learned from Nack is: Make the five-point. Almost any time you can, almost regardless of the other choices, making the five-point is right. Back when he was teaching me this, the computer programs did not agree. Now, they have gotten better and they agree with Nack. (