Everything Is A Matter of Position!

We continue to provide articles from Play65 by presenting an article written by R. Sade entitled "Position Issue In Backgammon". Sade talks about our habitual attitudes and emphasizes the importance of taking the right position, in the right place and at the right time.

How many times have you found yourself blaming the dices in the middle of a game? As opposed to a game based on luck, backgammon is shaped around the players ability to create a thoughtful step-by-step strategy.

The natural tendency is to take as much as blocks and to leave checkers alone. This is the right logic, however you should not stick to this for whatever it takes. To make more blocks and adding checkers on them for the sake of not being hit, will limit your possibilities to reach the ultimate goal, that is to collect your checkers before your opponent.

A block is for creating opportunity and not only for the sake of making a block. More often than not, the checkers that are left alone will help you make quality blocks in your home board and gives you the opportunity to hit your opponent's single checkers. A classical example, is to have a dice of 3-2 or 1-4. These dice combinations were played as 12/17 in the past. Today, it is accepted that even this move stops you from being hit and decreases the probability of future moves.

Generally, if you have the courage to leave more checkers alone in the beginning, your chance of having more of an advantage in the preceeding game will be higher. In the beginning, your opponent has not made many quality blocks and his/her own home board is open. For this reason you can easily put your hit checkers back to the game and have the chance to make quality blocks in your home town.

Remember that the dice will not determine the end of the game. The probabilities that you created will help you choose the best moves from many dice combinations.

The ability to balance between the risk of leaving checkers alone and opportunities to make quality blocks, will help you move through the game safely. Your opponent will see the self confidence and strategy behind your moves and will hesitate to try his/her chance therefore limit his/her own probabilities. When you opponent understands that you are willing to try your luck continuously, leaving more checkers alone, hit his/her checkers more and making quality blocks, he/she will be more conservative and limit the development of his/her own game.

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