Defensing the Backgame.
Michael Anderson
Lately I have been in a losing streak where I can't seem to manage to
win no matter what, but, I have noticed that back games have been beating
me almost every time I play against one.
It seems my opponents have been very capable of keeping excellent timing
every time they go into a backgame. I have no idea what to do about this.
I try to play slower, but it doesn't seem to help.
I wonder if I should just hist 3 checkers and ignore the rest of those
juicy blots to speen my opponent up? Sometimes the only choice is to hit.
I wsa always under the impression that one should only play a backgame
when forced to as it is usually not very succesful against good players.
I am playing like i always have, yet I can't win against backgames...any
advice on a good defense would be greatly appreciated.
Blutch
Michael J Zehr
>
>Lately I have been in a losing streak where I can't seem to manage to
>win no matter what, but, I have noticed that back games have been beating
>me almost every time I play against one.
>
>It seems my opponents have been very capable of keeping excellent timing
>every time they go into a backgame. I have no idea what to do about this.
>I try to play slower, but it doesn't seem to help.
Backgames themselves are pretty complicated, and likewise the defense
against them is pretty complicated. Are you losing to deep multi-point
backgames, like a 1-2-3 backgame? Or to a more common games like a 1-2,
1-3, or 2-3? Or a split backgame, like a 1-7, 1-5, etc?
Whether or not you should be hitting more checkers depends on a lot of
factors. Generally, hitting more checkers gives you more gammons and
backgammons in exchange for a few extra losses. If you only have 2
points to go in the match and the cube is already turned, you might not
want to hit more... but if you're way behind, the gammons and BGs might
be of extra value.
Keep in mind that "a point cleared is a point not to be feared."
Though you usually want to "clear from the rear and don't ask
questions," sometimes you want to clear a point that's in direct range
of your opponent's points (like the 7pt) while you still have outfield
checkers or points.
You're more interested in blocking points that have spares on them than
you are in blocking ponts that don't have spares. (Generally, you want
your opponent to have to give up one or more of the anchors as you're
ready to start bearing off... on the other hand, you don't want your
opponent to be able to recirculate checkers.
If the cube's been turned already, a backgame is going to be a long
game, so you want to take extra care not to bury checkers and put them
out of play.
Maybe you're doing all these things and just getting unlucky. Once in a
7pt match I lost 3 doubled games when my opponent had ace point games,
and I don't think I was doing anything really wrong -- it just happened
that way.
Without seeing a position or a game I can't give any specific advice.
Hopefully if any of my generalities are wrong, one of the better players
here will correct them. (Hi Kit, Walter, et al! *grin*) Of course,
knowing when to apply the general rule and when to break it is important
too....
-michael j zehr