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Learning from mistakes 4: Conflicting concepts

Yesterday I played a 3-point match where everything went wrong. Somehow I managed to use the wrong concepts in a lot of positions. It is rather painful to go through the game step-by-step but that is in fact the most important part of improving.

The steps are

  1. Understand why you came to the wrong conclusion.
  2. Understand how you come to the right conclusion.
  3. Review the positions multiple times until it becomes natural to you what the right concepts are.

In the following part I have selected two of the positions and go through step one and two.

Example 1

Score: 0-0/3 – Cube centered. White to move 43.

I looked at the following concepts/rules of thumb:

  • Don’t split when your opponent made the 2-point early in the game. By splitting you give the opponent a chance to attack you and get value of the 2-point.
  • Don’t be afraid of being blitzed when the attacker has 8 or less checkers in the zone .
  • Don’t be afraid to split when your opponent has striped the 8-point (only two checkers on the 8-point).
  • Unstacking the heavy mid-point is good.
  • Bringing more builders into play.

Based on these ideas I have three options:

  1. 24/20 13/10 (going for better anchor)
  2. 24/21 13/9 (going for less shots)
  3. 13/10 13/9 (going for more builders)

Choosing between option 1 and 2 heavily relies on the amount of good rolls Black can roll. Black will hit the checker on the 10-point with both 54 and 63 where only 44 and 62 will hit on the 9-point (22 will make the 4-point).

On top of that Black is more happy to hit loose on the 5-point with aces because they are not especially useful anywhere else. We can conclude that 24/21 13/9 is better than 24/20 13/10.

The above conclusion points to a concept that I forgot in my analysis done over the board: Efficiency of opponents next roll.

Now, choosing between option 2 and 3 is difficult. Looking at the concepts option 3 seems to meet most of the criteria. Option 2 win more games where option 3 win more gammons. It turns out that they are basically equally good with a very small bias towards option 3.

Example 2

Score: 0-0/3 – Cube centered. White to move 32.

Concepts that I took into account:

  • Pip-count: Down by 18 before the roll
  • Risk of being hit
  • Relative board strength
  • Builders for attacking
  • Unstacking the mid-point (13-point)
  • Leave 3 checkers on the mid-point

Again I considered three options:

  1. 13/11 13/10 (going for prime)
  2. 13/10 6/4 (going for attack)
  3. 13/8 (going for safety)

Analyzing option 3 is easy. We are behind in the race and it is not super risky to be hit because of the blot on Blacks 4-point. These factors are enough to dismiss option 3.

The next question is should we attack or should we prime?

Pro attack (option 2):

  • Only one blot
  • 10 checkers in the zone for a quite strong blitz next roll
  • Behind in the race
  • Black has a blot in the home board

Con attack:

  • Difficult to attack only one checker
  • Black has better relative board strength
  • White is not lost in the race

Pro prime (option 1):

  • More checkers in the zone
  • More control
  • More possibilities to make point next roll
  • Behind in the race

Con prime:

  • Two blots (more risk)
  • Not leaving 3 checkers on the mid point

Taking all these considerations into account one point becomes clear. We do not have a position where we can win here and now. If we have to build up to an attack or a priming game the latter has way more long time potential. This takes a lot of power out of the attacking plan and leaves us with the priming option.

The missing piece of the puzzle was that the attack is too slow and it does not have the necessary power.

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

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Learning from mistakes 3: When the hand is faster than the mind

Today’s topic is centered around these kind of very annoying errors where the alarm bells go off too late – like one second after you made your move.

A nice vacation with time to read some (backgammon)books and relax has come and gone. Thankfully I only have one more week at work before I have another two weeks of vacation. This time I’ll go to England and play a BMAB tournament. These kinds of tournaments have focus on how well you can play according to the computer programs. This is more a battle of theoretical prowess than a battle to score the most points.

A lot of time has gone into preparations for this tournament. I have been studying some reference positions, gotten some inspiration from books and last but not least a lot of practice against other people. XG Masters did not go well but that was a wake up call for me to also get some experience playing against people.

I have played more than 100 matches at Backgammon Galaxy with a satisfactory result. The backgammon server is still in beta but overall it is working well. If you would like to sign up and try out a few games you can use the beta code “galaxystar” when signing up to gain access.

Example 1

In this example I’m playing the white checkers and rolled a nice 62. Without spending more then 2 seconds on it I moved 13/5*.

The score is 0-0/5 and I have already doubled and of course I’d like to win a gammon and why not go for the win (gammon) with such a strong roll? When looking a little closer it becomes clear that White has really good chances to win the game with very little risk by just running. White is ahead 18 pips before the roll. Black has a nice prime that White would do best not to get closed in behind by being hit on the 5-point.

Suddenly it seems very clear that the right move is not to hit and just play the safe 13/7 6/4.

Example 2

This one still hurts and I’m sure I’ll wake up in the middle of the night screaming thinking of this. The score is 0-0/3 and I rolled 51.

I start by hitting with 13/12*. Then I look for the 5. Playing either 13/8 or 22/17 sucks, so I make a quick decision to jump the prime while Black is on the bar.

Basically everything went wrong here. After my move Black can actually double from the bar and I have to pass it! Looking at the position is it clear that Black will soon have some issues with his timing (I’m down 27 pips in the race before the roll) where he can be forced to leave his anchor and most likely also leave a blot too. If I just play the simple and beautiful move 13/8 6/5 I’ll have all the counter-play I need.

Example 3

The next one is a bit tricky. Once more the score is 0-0/3 and I rolled a nice 44. But it was not quite clear what needed to be taken into consideration.

Making the 4-point is quite clear. Should I go for the nice 5-prime with 6/4(2) or should I go for more control with 24/20(2). Both candidates look fine but there is an interesting point here. I would like to be able to double next roll. By playing 24/20(2) I’m almost certain that I have a nice double next roll. What I forgot was that I in most cases will play on for a gammon if I make the 2-point which is also clearly the strongest move.

Unfortunately I made the 20-point which is a huge mistake at this match score. In money game the two moves are equally good because you need to have doubled to win a gammon. In both situations you would end up doubling next roll with Black forced to pass.

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