• How to install eXtreme Gammon on macOS

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    Orad Reshef

    As of this writing, eXtreme Gammon (XG) is the most authoritative backgammon bot. This is despite the ticket price ($60), it having no new major releases since 2013 or any active development since 2015. Most damningly, XG only runs on Windows, making it inaccessible to Mac or Linux users. That said, if you want what…

  • Board strength

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    Orad Reshef

    The most important concept to improve your checker play immediately is that of board strength. Simply put, the relative state of your and your opponent’s homeboards determines the strength of your position and guides much of checker play. Let’s discuss why in greater detail. First, how do you distinguish a strong board from a weak…

  • Cluster counting 5: examples

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    Orad Reshef

    Now that we’ve described the entire method, let’s practice it in some real situations. We will go through a few examples together, and we provide other exercises in the further reading links at the end of the lesson. Early game In the position above, we can count our checkers on the far end of the…

  • Cluster counting 2: home board

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    Orad Reshef

    We continue our series on cluster counting by learning a few more common clusters for checkers near and around our home board. 4. The deck Continuing with our series of named cluster positions, we have the deck. This one is a prime that extends from the 5-pt to the 8-pt. It’s aptly named, since not…

  • Cluster counting 4: mental shifts and symmetry

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    Orad Reshef

    To fully make use of the references we learned in parts 1 through 3 of this series on cluster counting, we will need to make use of the mental shift method we learned about previously. 9. Bear-off positions When bearing off, you very often get to use the 10-checker references with fancy names (e.g., the…

  • Cluster counting 3: outfield points

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    Orad Reshef

    We continue our series on cluster counting by learning a few more common clusters for checkers in the outfield and our opponent’s homeboard. 6. The mid-point One checker on each of the mid-point and the bar-point add 20 pips to the count: It often turns out to be easier to count the checkers on the…