- -- -

FOR SERIOUS PLAYERS

I n ~ ? l m ~ i mmckmmmon rrorkD -n

Youth.rornr*tahLRurPml

'E 1

IN Bill Robertie

Winning at badcgammonrequiresmastering two phases

of the game: dynamic checkerpIq (using your check-

ers as weapons to pin your opponent in awkward

positions) and aggressive cube action (using the dou-

bliig cube to maximize your wins in good positions

and minimize your losses in bad positions).

Both parts of the game are essential. Wkhout sharp

checker play, you wont create the sorts af positions

where you can outmaneuver and outplay your oppo-

nents. Without skillful use of the doubling cube, you won't earn as much from your good positions as you

should. Ifyou're going to be a big winner, you've got to

master both of these elements.

In this book, I'll show you the secrets of aggressive

checker and cube play as practiced by the greatest masters of the game. You'll lmn how to make your

checkers work in multiple ways, how to build primes

quickly when you need them, and how to drop back

inro holding positions and back games for more win-

ning chances late in the game. You'll also lean the

masterj~rets for offering timely doubles,andhowto decide whether a cube i s a take or a drop.

By the time you've finished rmding, you'll be &ng

to incorporate thest ideas in your own v. The

results wiU be impressive. Your checker pky will put extra pressure on your opponents, forcing them into

cramped, a w h d positions. Your cubcs will come at

just the right moment, forcing tough decisions. Fi- nally, your i m p d technique will let you bring your

games to winning condusions, avoidingtheupmand turnarounds that will plague your o p p o m .

Let's get s d !

The best way to study backgxnmon Is by looking at

a d games played by master players. There you'll

h d , instead of contrived situations, the sort of difi-

cuic yet fascinating positions that occur when Gack-

gammon i s played by competitors who redy under- smnd the game. In thls book I've collected five of the most interesting games h m master play in the last few

ymrs. Each of the players is a first-class pro playing at

the top of hi game.

My fim book, adckgmtnonfir Wnnm, gave you a

solid foundation for mastering the basic strategies of

the game. In the games I've p i c h i for this book, you're

going to be introduced to a higher level of play, full of new ideas that we haven't encountered before. R d

carefully; there's probably a lot here that you've never

seen. By she time you've worked yourway through the

whole book, your undersmnding and your play will

have advanced several I d .

Backgammon is a game best studied not

passively. It's tasy to MI into the trap of reading through a book quickly, noringwhat the author has to

say, tcllingyoum1F"Oh ycs, hat 's pretty obvious," and

moving on. Siac backgammon moves are all j u t

sitting there, waiting to be found, it's tempting to think that you would surely have found all these movts had

you k n sitting at the table. lfyou'relthinkingthisway,

you're studying pire ly .

I recommend a more active approach to reading chi book, Treat each game like a quiz, especially the first

time you read through it.Tryusing a piece of paper or

cardboard to cover a player's roll and movc.Thcn move

the paper to uncover just the dice roll. Ask youtseif,

"What would I play here?" Ifyou want to, write down

your play on a separate piace ofpaper. Now expose the

actual play and compare it to what you would have

done.

By reading and t&g yourself in this way, you'll

compile a Iist of the plays you would haw made

difkrently. Now the arplanations will be more m a n -

in&l, since youbealready done the work of grappling

with the problem At the same time, you

should also read closely the wmrncna on the plays you

made correctly, since my wmmcnts may bring out

some fkatum of the position you hadn't considerod.

Backgammon tournaments ate heH dl over the world

and throughout theyear. On any givenweekend, there

will be local tournaments across the United States and

throughout Europe. The game is currently catching on

in South America, and many new clubs and events are

starting there.

The biggest tournaments are frequent enough ta com-

prise a~ informal tour, and a handful of professional

players make the circuit. The big events include the

Swiss tournament in Gstaad and St. Moria in March. Then it's on to St. Tropez and Zas Vcgas in April and May, Venice infune, andThe World Championship in

Monte Carlo in July. A brief stopover in Cannes is

followed by the highlight of the tour, the World Cup

in Dallas. October is dedicated to the South American

tournaments in Sao Paulo, Ria de Janiem, and Buenos

Aires.The season finishes with the Las Vegas Open and

Pro Am DouMes Championship in November.

Tournaments are great places to meet new players, take

a look at new boards and quipmcnt, and pickup n m

ofdubs opening. Mast top tournamens have a lecture

series for beginners and inttrmcdiates, while pros: art always available for private lessons. Don't be intimi-

dated if you're a beginner. Every tournament has

sections and activities designed especially for newcom-

ers. Besides, ifyou absorb the ltssons in this book, you

won't stay a beginner for long?

WKQAMMON TOURNAMENTS

Backgammon tournaments arc run somewhat like

tennis tournaments, using an elimination format In

the first round, players are p a i d at random. If the

number of players is not qua1 to a power of 2 (1 6,32, 64,128, and so forth), some players dl receive a bye,

which is a free pass ro the ncm round. Each round, half

the players arc climinatcd, until only two players

remain. T h a two players compete in the finals for the

title of champion.

Eliminated players are dropped inm a new m t ,

mlled the Consolation, Losers in the Consolation are

dropped into a final event, the Last Chance. Matchts in the Consolation and Last Chance are typically

shorter than in the main m n t ,

In a ypical tournament, about 60% ofthe prize money

k domed to the main mmt, with 30% in the

Cansolation and 10% in the Last Chance. Of course, the exact percentages and prizes are up to the tourna- ment organizer. In addition to the main tournament with its Consolation and Last Chance, there are usu-

dy manyjackpots andside wents ping on atthe same

time. Some players have been knawn ro play aver 100

matches during the course of a week-long competi- tion.

A largc tournament may take 7-9 days to complete.

Smaller regional events might be held over just a long

weekend. A purely local event can be completed in a

single day. Matches in regional and local events are

much shorter than in the big international competi-

tions.

SPECEAL RULES FOR

TOURNAMENT PIAY

Tournament play is structured around matches that

are played to a specified number of points. By tta&-

tion, the number of points in a match is always OM. In a local murnamenx, for example, the matches might

m t at 9 points, increasing as rounds are pIayed to a 15 point final match. The longerthc match, the more skill is involved in the outcome.

As in money play, the doubling cube is used. Competi- tors play gama and add the points won in tach game

to their total sfore. When one player reaches the

dcsirad rod, the match is over and he is the winner.

In tournament play, you don't have to doubIe to win a

gammon. Thafs different from maney play, where in

most dubs the doubling cube must be turned for a

prnmon or backgammon to be scored (the Jacoby

Rule).

Toward the end of a match, the Crawford Rule comes

into play. hventad many years ago by John Crawford,

the Crawford rule statcs that when a player's score

teaches one point from victory, his opponent cannot

double in the very next game. If the mat& continues

beyond the next game, the cube can be usod normdy.

For example, Smith and Joncs are playing a Ppoint

match, and Smith wins a p e to make the score:

Smith 8, Jones 4. The next game is the Crawford

Game, andJones annot double in this p e . (Smith,

ofcourse, has no reason to double.) M s a y Jontswins

one point in the Crawfod Game to mike the score 8

to 5. In the following game, normal rules are back in

e f k and Jones can double as soon as he wishes.

Disputes between the players are settled by calling the

tournammt director, who will make a ruling. In cer-

tain exceptional casts, a panel of experienced playcrs may be convened to make a ruling

p t c r than in rhc World Cup, but the contest itself is THE MAJOR TOURNAMENTS always fascinating. Here are the winners of the last 25 Like golf and tennis, backgammon has a few events World Championships: whose i rnpomce dwarfs the other tournaments. Here

are a few of the biggest and most prestigious tourna-

ments in modern backgammon.

THE WORLD CUP The most important tournament in backgammon is

the World Cup, heid every other year in August in

Dallas. What sepatates the World Cup from dl other

events is the extreme length of iw matches. Each round

in h e main event is a best three out of five, 1 P point

series. In the Consolation, matches start at 25 points (longer than the finals at most tournaments) and

increase to a 29 point final. Chess docks are used to time each match and ensure reasonably speedy play (as

well as adda little extrapressuse).The World Cup is the

most d8icult tournament in backpnmon to win,

and in fact, no one but a top world-class pro has wer

won the went.

THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The World Championship of Backgammon is held

wery July at hew's Hotel in Monte Carlo. The went

norrndy attracts about 400 players. Most participants

are from Eucope, although each- about 30 Ameri-

m n s make the journv. Matches in the main event

begin at 17 points and Increase to a 25 point final.

W~th the shorter matches, the luck factor is much

: LuigiVi

: Walter C : Lee Gen

: Jacques

: BillRob

: Mike Sv . PL--l*-

: Clemen

: Bill Rob -. ... -

: JaeRus!

i: HdEIei : Michael

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S

. ratu lvragr~w turn

lla (Italy) :oratella (A

ud (USA) Mihe1 (Switzerland)

. k r r a r w Sabet [Itall t Palalacci (It rertie (USA

: Philip Macmorstein (bermany)

1989

I390 1991

:: lonKcssu (Kuman

I: Peter Thomsen (D t: Frank Frigo (USA: E: David Ben-Zion (l

i: David Nehmad (b

': Jerry Grandell (S* i: Michael Meyburg (bermany)

): Jorgen Granstedt (Sweden)

1: Katie Smlamandre WSA)

1: J o r p Granstdt (Swaden) t: Mads Andersen (Denmark) -

,ettie (USA nbodny (U - . - .

sell (USA) I&& (Car

1 Mqsourg ,-

~ada)

(Germany) . ,

irael)

d e n ) <P .

THE PaO-AM DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP

The Pro-Am Doubles Championship originated in Here's a l i t of recent winners:

The Bahamas. The Bahamas has been the scene of top-

flight backgxnmon events ever since the very first

international tournament waso+d there by Prince

Alexis Oboicnsky in 1964.That tournamentgrew into

the Obolensky Cup, held during the 1960s and 1970s, but eventually discontinued in 1974.

The World Championship was heId on Paradise Island until 1978, when it moved to Monte Carlo. For about

ten years after that, a regular tournament on the international circuit was held every year in January,

until the idea of a h@-dass doubles tournament

caught on.

The idea of a Pro-Am doubles tournament was the brainchld of Lewis Deyong, a backgammon promoter

from London. The format is a doubles tournament of

16 teams, each consisting of a top tour professional paired with an enthusiastic amateur.

In 1998, the Pro-Am Doubles Championship moved

toTurnberry Isle, Florida. The following year it moved

again, hiis rime to La Vegas, Nevada. Although it used to be held in February, it now rakes place in Las V v every November.

Jerry Gram

rd & Haw

dell & Atrr

ey WuEe

~anda Balb

PRO-AM DOUBLES CHAMPIONS Phillip Marmomin 8r RalfLudwig

Joe Russell & Bob W:

Mads A n d e m & Gi TO

Hack Bdla i

Backgammon games are recorded using a method called ba&pmmon notation. It's easy to learn, and it

lets us replay a backgammon game whenever we want

to. Let's see how it works.

D i 1 shows the starring position of a backgam- mon game:

Notice that W'YC n u m M aIl the p o d on the

board, starting with point numba 1 in the lower left

and going all the way to point n u m k 24 in thc upper Icfi. Using these point numbers, wecan dewibe all the moves of a backgammon game-

In Diagram I , Black is moving d M e . His pi- movc from the upper left quadrant to the right auoss

the top half of she board, then to the lcfi along the

lawer half ending up in the quadrant on the lower left.

Black's pieas always move h m higher numbctcd

poinu to lowcr numbered pints.

White5 piem move in theopposite- direction, counter-

dodrwisc. White's piaces end up in xhe upper left quadrant.

Suppose Black won the optning roll with a 3 1 (Black rolled a 3 and White rolIed a I, so Black would r n m

first), and wanted to make his 5-point. In bajrgam- mon notation, w e would write:

1. Black 31: 815 &5

Thii says: O n the fist roll of the game, Black rolled 3 1,

andmdapiecefmmtheS-pointto the 5-point, and

anothcr picce horn the Gpoint m the 5-point.

The d t i q position would look like this:

Now suppostthat White mlleda63, and elected to run

with one of his nmr checkers on the 1-point. We'd write:

2. White 63 1/10 and the pasition would naw look like chi:

Ifyou've understood chi so fir, congratulations! You've

mastered backgammon notation.

k e are a ftw more shorthand notations that you'll

see throughout the book. They are as follows:

Rolling doubles. When a player rolls doubles and

moves his ch& in pairs, the move Looks like this: 3. White 11: 19120(2) 171I8(2)

This means White m o d two checkers from the 19- point to the20-point, and two more from the 17-point

to the 18-point.

Hitting a blot. When someone hits a blot, we use the

symbol *, like this: 4. Black 63: 2415'

This means Black m m d a chadter from the 24-point

to the 15-point, hitting a blot and sending it to the bar.

Bearing of€. We indicate that checkers were borne off with the notation /OK. For instance: 24. BIack 65: 6loff 5Joff

This means Black rolled a 65 and bore off rwo check- ers.

That's all there is to it! When you play through the

games, wmpare the position on your boatd at home

with the diagrams in the book. Within a very short

time you'll be d i n g the notation flawlasly

Billy Horn, a New Yorker, w s recognized as one of the very top players in the world for some time. He's the only player ro win the World Cup twice, in 1390 and 1334. He also won h e Athens tournament in

1394 and the Bahamas Pro-Am in 1991. He mired in

1398.

Matthias Pauenis oneofthe mnpt German $aytts. His best result so far was second place in the Tarrequebrada tournament in Spain in 1932.

The first game we'll study was played in the semifinals

of the great Athens tournament of 1994. The match

was to 23 poincs, and Horan was the eventual winner. We're ping to Iwk at Game 5 of the match; at this

point Pauen leads Horan 4 to 3.

1. BlackG2: 24/18 13111.

This is the modern way of playing an opening 6-2. Wth dtt 6, Blackmom out to the opposing bar point (the 18-point), hoping that one of two thinp will

happen: either White will fa11 to hit this blot and Black

wiZl roll another 6 and &or on the bar point next

rum, or White will hit the blot but lave a blot of his own, anda~hirbyBlackdgaiainalotofground in the race. W~th the 2, Black puts a budder on the I 1-

point, which can be useful in the future in making the

5-pint, 7-pint, or Ppoint.

Black had 4 other ways of playing this roll which aren't seen very much anymore in master play. Let$ take a lmk at them.

He could haw uiad running all the way with a back

man: 24116. This leaves fewer hitting rolls for Whire, so on the d c e it's a saferplay. The problem with the

play i s that it's not consmaive. If Bkdc is hit, he"s accomplished nothing, &ie m n if he's missad, he'll still have the problem of getting that blot to safety next

turn.

OPENINO

In Backgammon fir Winners, I discussed the key gods

of the first f&v moves of the game. The top priority is

to make the strong blocking points on your side of the

board. For Black, these key p o i m are rhc 5-poinr, the