- Monday, April 16, 2007
Backgammon is a game of dice, and we all know one thing about dice rolls: they even out over time, just like in most online casino games. And still, unlike a game such as video poker, a backgammon player can be more or less skilled. How is that possible?
The trick is to bend the randomness of the dice rolls in your favor. If you can place your checkers on the board in such a way that more dice rolls become favorable for you, each dice roll will give you a small advantage – in the long run. It works a bit like counting cards in blackjack.
This is very important, for instance, in the opening game when you try to deny your opponent an easy development by putting up blocks in his homeland. You and your opponent will have the same dice rolls on average, but by positioning your checkers the right way, you may be able to put up your blocks much faster than your opponent, and the game will be halfway won.
Comparing two moves
So how can you improve your odds and making more dice rolls work in your favor? Take a look at the following example.
Fig 1: Black to move 3-2
Let’s consider two possible moves here, and compare the odds they give you for putting up a block in the next roll. The move 11-8-6 might seem nice and safe:
Fig 2: Position after 11-8-6
You advance a piece to the target area and leave no blots for your opponent to hit on. But in order to build a block on the next roll you have only three available rolls: 1-1, 3-3 and 4-4. Three rolls out of 36 give you the harsh odds of 8% of making a block. Your position is too static.
Put yourself in a good spot
The other move is 13-10-8:
Fig 3: Position after 13-10-8
With this move you produce three “active helpers”, the odd pieces on 11, 8, 6. Those are pieces that you can use to build blocks. Now all the following rolls would let you build a block on your next turn:
6-4 (block on 7)
6-3 (block on 5)
6-1 (block on 7)
5-3 (block on 3)
4-1 (block on 7)
3-1 (block on 5)
That’s a total of 12 favorable dice rolls, giving you odds of 33% - much, much better.
Of course, you could also consider moving 23-20 to secure you inner board – few situations are clear cut in backgammon.
Increase your flexibility
As a general rule, the more active helpers you set up, the more flexible your position becomes, and more dice rolls will work in your favor, thereby actually improving your odds.
In other phases of the game, the most important issue may not be flexibility, but that’s the topic of another article.
If you want a little variation to your backgammon sessions, why not try some online blackjack.
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