Author: Orad Reshef

As the game winds down, you and your opponent might find yourselves in a race bearing off your checkers until you have fewer and fewer of them. At some point, it will be clear that each of you only has a handful of rolls available, with no real options for play except to bear off…

Doubling is an intricate topic, and there’s no end to how much one can learn. But it’s hard to know where to start. In this module, we will present a series of rules of thumb for different game plans and different situations. All discussions will be for unlimited games — adjustments for match scores will…

The first type of doubling position we will study is a straight racing position. You’ve broken contact with your opponent and now you’re both hoping to roll well and win outright. You can probably tell if you are leading just by looking at the board, but do you have enough to offer your opponent the…

The last game plan we will discuss is called a backgame. ….I don’t know where to start with these. They occur only 5% of the time, and are super challenging because their play is antithetical to typical forward backgammon play. A backgame is like an extreme holding game. In a backgame, you’ve fallen so far…

Possibly the most exciting game plan is that of the blitz attack. When blitzing an opponent, you are endlessly hitting their checkers, putting them on the roof and taking away all of their initiative in the hopes of closing out your board. It’s a high-risk high-reward game plan, which, when successful, results in many gammons. You typically pursue…