Posted on

Preparations for a big tournament

Finally, I managed to find time for a real tournament. My eyes are set on the 7th Merit Open Int Backgammon Championship held in Cyprus early November. Based on peoples previous experiences with that tournament it will be a nice experience.

This blog is about how I prepare for a larger tournament, especially when out of shape (in more than one way). The main goal is to be ready for the tournament to a degree where I believe that I could win it! How do I plan to get to that point?

I’m very structure and process oriented. It may seem boring and tedious but I find comfort in having everything in a system. This way of thinking has brought me many practical challenges because I’m heavily biased towards consistency rather than what works. If it does not make sense to me I won’t do it even though I objectively understand that it is right.

Then the question is: Can you put Backgammon into a system? To a very high degree, yes!

Guiding principles for improvement

  • Strengthen basic understanding of the game
  • Work on specific problems in your game (learn/understand new concepts)
  • Generalize specific problems and solve the specific problem with the generalized model
  • Get feedback through analysis of your own games and training session with other players

My main issue: Thinking vs. knowing

Thinking is easy: Requires effort here and now
Knowing is hard: Requires planning, hard work and discipline

I’m lazy. Not in the sense of lying on the couch in front of the TV all day, but in the sense of relying on thinking rather than knowing. One of my strengths is that I’m very good at focusing a lot of energy into solving a specific problem here and now. The flip side is that I never really appreciated what hard work can achieve because a focused effort with minimal preparation would get me through almost any challenge. This is basically the story of my backgammon life too. Let’s take a closer look at the current situation in relation to backgammon.

Past experience tells me that trying to patch up the holes in my understanding of the game will fail (trying to think instead of knowing). It is too short sighted and require way too much energy when sitting at the board trying to make it work. Generally speaking I tend to spend too much time pondering over positions while playing a tournament (trying to think instead of knowing) . This usually brings me into time trouble resulting in even more mistakes.

When you are playing a tournament you should focus on utilizing what you already know and when you are in a training setting you should focus on getting to know more.

Clearly, I’m breaking my own rule but I intend to do better. By identifying the types of positions where I spend a lot of time I can go back and analyse those situations in depth to actually understand them. This will save me a lot of time in future situations. Later I’ll go more into exactly what type of problems I need to focus on.

Basic understanding of the game

There are a lot of things that we know about backgammon – a lot of things where we have a clear answer. This knowledge has been put into many good books. Basically everyone could sit down and learn these things and become an expert player. Of course it requires a significant effort but you don’t have to think a single original thought yourself.

Here is my recommended reading list for basic knowledge (sorted: Easy to hard):

  • Backgammon From basics to badass, Marc B. Olsen
  • Opening Concepts, Michihito Kageyama and Roland Herrera
  • Endgame Technique, Michihito Kageyama and Roland Herrera
  • Backgammon Boot Camp, Walter Trice
  • Backgammon Pure Strategy, Marc B. Olsen
  • Modern Backgammon, Bill Robertie

In my own preparations I’ll read quickly through Michi’s two books (448 pages) and spend some time studying cube action in Pure Strategy (179 pages) and Boot Camp (81 pages).

Specific problems in my game

To be as efficient as possible I’ll address the specific issues that I’m actually facing in my matches. After a match I’ll go through the whole match move by move and try to formulate what is going on in the position. When in doubt I test my hypothesis by changing features of the position to see the effect and then restate my understanding of the position.

Recent matches indicate that I struggle heavily with cube action and safe vs. bold positions. In future blogs a lot of examples will be analyzed.

Generalizing a problem

I learn through conceptualizing things. When faced with a specific problem

  1. I try to conceptualize it
  2. Solve the conceptualized problem
  3. Use the solution on the specific problem

This way I am solving a class of problems instead of a single instance.

Feedback

Most of the time I’m trying to update my conception of the game but it is a challenge doing this only with a computer. For this preparation I’ve asked two Grandmasters (Karsten Bredahl and Marc B. Olsen) to have a few session with me based on the themes that I have been working on.

The next blogs will be centered around the things I’ll learn and work on. If we are lucky there is a chance that one of the training sessions with a Grandmaster will be recorded for publication.

Posted on

Learning from mistakes 2: Is it too good to double?

This problem is from yesterday’s XGM match against Ole Nielsen. We are in the 4th game where I’m leading 5-1 to 17 (5-1/17). I hold the cube at 2.

Position 1
Position 1

The pip-count (race) is also strongly in my favor having only 64 pips against Ole’s 81 pips.

It was not at all clear to me what the right cube action was. Let’s try to dig into a deeper analysis of the situation I was faced with.

Match score

When leading a match you want to protect your lead by lowering the variance which in most cases means playing more conservatively with the cube – especially high cubes. More variance will benefit the person trailing because it will be easier to become lucky and turn around the course of the match.

This means that I should be less inclined to double than in money game where match score does not play a role.

Context – no gammon, no prime to jump

Let’s start by looking at another situation, that could arise from our original position, where the cube action is clear.

Position 2
Position 2

White is not behind the prime and there is no way of catching the second checker. White will lose a few games by being hit from the bar but Black will also lose a few gammons. See the theory section for reference positions.

Conclusion 1: It is clear that White has no incentive to play on for the gammon in position 2 and the correct cube action is for White to double and Black to pass both at the current match score and in money game.

Theory

I have two reference positions that are nice to know.

Reference position 1
Reference position 1: White wins approximately 2% gammon

Reference position 2
Reference position 2: White wins approximately 5% gammon

Context – gammon, no prime to jump

Let’s take a look at a position where we can win more gammons but we don’t have the issue of being behind a prime.

Position 3
Position 3

It is clear that we are in a much better position than in position 2. The question is if we should double now or play on for the gammon.

If White catch a second checker there will be a significant amount of gammon in the position. If not, White will jump out and end up in one of two situations.

  1. If Black fans we have the same scenario as dealt with in “Context – no gammon, no prime to jump.”
  2. If Blacks enters the position it will be a clear double for White and depending on the distance between the checkers Black has either a take or pass. See the theory section for reference position.

In scenario two Black’s cube action is as shown below.

Position 4
Position 4: Where White’s checker has to be for Black to take or pass

In either case our cube decision is well defined if we do not double right away.

Conclusion 2: If we hit we play on for the gammon. If we miss we double and let Black decide what to do. By not doubling right away White gets a chance to try to win a gammon.

A good rule of thumb is that you need to win more gammons than you lose games to be able to play on for a gammon (the position is too good to double).

As seen in reference position 4 White will win less than 40% gammon if White hits the second checker (let’s say ~30% in position 3). It will happen ~1/3 of the time giving White close to 10% gammon chances. Another estimate is that white will win position 3 over 90% of the time.

Conclusion 3: The estimates above indicate that White will win ~10% gammon and lose fewer games than that. If White does not double there will be efficient cube action next roll. White should play on for the gammon in position 3. The decision is close though.

Theory

Rule of thumb: If you are in a position where you win if you run by your opponent or lose if you get hit, then

  • you can double if you are 11 away
  • your opponent should take if you are 9 or more away
  • your opponent should take or pass if you are 8 away depending on other factors

Reference position 3
Reference position 3: Black can either take or pass

If you have closed out two checkers you will win ~40% gammon.

Reference position 4
Reference position 4: White will win approximately 40% gammon

Analysis of the original position

Looking at position 1 it is now clear that we are not thinking about playing on for the gammon. If position 3 was just good enough to play on for a gammon then position 1 is definitely not good enough. The question is then if White can double at all.

The fact that our position is not a lot worse than in position 3 it still has to be a clear double and a huge pass for Black. This conclusion is so strong that the match related adjustments does not change anything.

After thoughts

If you made it this far consider leaving a comment with feedback on the style of this blog. If I can make improvements I’d like to hear about it, so I spend the time writing these blogs as efficiently as possible.

Good luck with your training. See you at the tables.

Posted on

Learning from mistakes 1: Introduction

Personally I believe that you learn the most from your own mistakes. You made them – you own up to them. This is the first part of a series of blog posts called “Learning from mistakes” (LFM) where I will go into some of the errors I made in serious games.

XG Masters 2018

In Denmark we have a tournament running over the summer where a lot of very strong players attend. The main focus is playing well – not winning. You will get awarded one point for winning a match, one point for having the lowest error rate and one point for giving up the least match winning chances.

Each round is planned individually between players and it is typically played at one of the players home or at a cafe. All matches are recorded by video and later transcribed and analysed by eXtreme Gammon (the best backgammon software available).

Getting back into tournament backgammon

I’m participating in XGM this year with a hope of getting back into playing tournament backgammon again after a break for more than 10 years. In the meantime I have been playing a little bit with the computer and on my phone, but mostly single games and primarily to kill time.

Recently I realized that I’ve been missing playing tournaments a lot. Unfortunately I’m very rusty and have to dedicate myself to work hard on the game to be able to be competitive again.

Main focus points:

  • Spend the time needed
  • Play serious tournaments (record all matches)
  • Understand my mistakes
    • Question everything
    • Make sure to learn something
  • Play matches online to think about backgammon every day
  • Discuss backgammon with strong players.

Personal goals

There are two tournaments in scope. XG Masters 2018 and BMAB UK in September. My main goal is to play below 6.0 (average Performance Rating) in those two tournaments together and below 5.5 in BMAB. My current level is around 6.5 which is unsatisfactory to say the least. I make too many unforced blunders.

My main weaknesses are cube action in general and match play in particular. These are typically the first things that you get out of touch with when not playing for a while.

Next blog

The next couple of blogs will go into the first match in XG Masters that I played against Ole Michael Nielsen yesterday evening. There are plenty of mistakes to learn from…