How can I improve as a backgammon player?

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One of the most common questions I get is “How can I improve as a backgammon player?” What players want is not so much specific advise as a road map. Where do you start? How do you get from here to there?

I’m going to try to give a very brief outline here of how to get your game to the next level. I’m going to key this to Novice, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced players. Please don’t ask me “My rating is 1570, am I Novice or Beginning?” This is just sort of a general outline. Other then all the ideas you might get by reading this page the best way to improve is to practice, practice and practice, just go to an online gaming site and play for fun to improve your skills.

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Novice Backgammon Players

Most novices have very little understanding of the game. They don’t even know what the right goals of the game are. Some of the things I’ve seen them do are:

Play the game to stack checkers on their lowest points early, on the theory that they can never be hit off and therefore they’ll eventually win the race.
 
Leave a shot only when there is no totally safe play available.
 
Double only when the game is nearly won, and take a double anytime they have even a small chance to win “because I hate to give up.”

I really don’t have a quick answer to these, because backgammon has always been somewhat intuitive to me. You try to build points, you try to block your opponent’s checkers, you try to take small chances now to avoid having to take big ones later.

Iyou’re making these kinds of plays, I would say just try to reorient your game. Watch some better players, and see how they approach the game differently. Start with the basic ideas that you want to advance your own checkers, block your opponent’s, and not get blocked yourself. Double when you think you have about a 70% chance of winning and take when you have a 25% or greater chance. Go to the library and find a book – really, any book will do. But most of all, look to something outside your own game because if you’re making these kinds of mistakes, you really need a fundamental change 

Intermediate Backgammon Players

Intermediate players have a pretty good grounding in the fundamentals of backgammon. They will rarely do truly horrible things. Still, there are big gaps in their game that will prove costly when their opponent is either lucky or good. I would say, try these suggestions:

If you don’t already have it, get a copy of “Backgammon” by Paul Magriel. You won’t find this in bookstores, but you can get it from Carol Joy Cole.
 
Send me a couple of matches (go to my Snowie page for instructions on how) and study the results carefully. See what you did wrong and why. Sometimes the mistakes will be small technical ones, sometimes they will be major positional ones. Some of your cube decisions will be truly gruesome.
 
Come to the weekly backgammon lessons on the Zone. These are mostly geared toward intermediate players.
 
Get a good understand of doubling theory and match equity concepts. Get to know what match scores call for more, and less, aggressive doubling and taking.

Advanced Backgammon Players

Advanced players will rarely make hopeless mistakes. It’s quite a step from “Advanced” to “Expert” – but these suggestions should get you closer:

Get a copy of either Jellyfish Tutor or Snowie Student (about $100 each, also available from Carol Joy Cole). Play it and whenever you make an error, stop and figure out why.
 
Buy Robertie’s “Advanced Backgammon.” This is available from Carol, or also in bookstores but usually by special order (about $70-$80). This is a 2-volume book, about 400 pages, and is worth reading until you have it memorized.
 
Make sure you know, and can use, match equity tables for matches up to the length you normally play.
 
Subscribed to Kit Woolsey's online backgammon magazine GammOnLine.com ($36 a year).
 
If you can, play in some real-life tournaments. Don’t pretend to be an expert; you’re not. But just by hanging around good players you will pick up a lot.

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