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Tips on how to play long backgammon correctly. Tactics and tactical techniques for playing long backgammon

Game strategy backgammon

This guide is intended for beginner players.

A checker (chip) is what they use. At the beginning of the game, each player has 15 checkers on the board.

Head - the initial formation of 15 checkers in the first position. As the game progresses, there are fewer and fewer checkers left on the head, but until the last checker it is considered a head.

According to the rules, you cannot move more than one checker from your head (except for the very first move in case of a roll of 3:3, 4:4 and 6:6).

Move – performing a movement in accordance with the numbers drawn at dawn. Thus, a move is from 1 to 4 movements with one or different checkers. It is also possible to skip a move if it is not possible to make a single movement according to the rules.

Hole (position, field) – a place on the board where you can place a checker. There are 24 holes on the board. Positions at the head are a place that can be reached from the head using the number of points rolled. For example, position 5 is a move to 5 from the head, i.e. sixth position of the first quarter of the board.

Quarter - half of one of the two halves of a backgammon board:

I – the one with which the game begins, i.e. the one where the head is;
II – the quarter following the head (for the opponent this is the release zone);
III – the one where the opponent’s head is;
IV - ejection zone (the last one in the direction of movement of the checkers).

Fence (screen) – two or more checkers standing in a row.

Reserve - the presence of moves with checkers, which allows you not to vacate the most important positions at a given moment in the game, which, in the event of a checker leaving, will be occupied by the opponent.

Starting a game of backgammon

The first few moves, although they do not solve serious tactical problems, under certain conditions can seriously affect the course of the game.

The basic rule: we take one checker from the “head”, the second we move in another place. Those. you need to develop, balance between placing checkers at your own “head” and at the opponent’s “head”, and seize territory. The logic of the game dictates that you need to place one checker to capture a position near your head, and “drive” the second one to someone else’s head. The exception is when the opponent threatens to build long fence at your head, for example, from 5 checkers - then it would be smarter to take the free space inside this fence, even if you do not remove a single checker from your head.

The tactical plan for the first few (usually 5-7) moves is quite simple - defending the positions of your own head and seizing positions from someone else's head. The value of the II and IV quarters of the board at the initial stage is secondary.

1. Try not to allow three or more senior positions to be captured in a row near your head. Accordingly, try to do it yourself from someone else.

2. The position on move 6 from the head is “inconvenient” from the point of view of the subsequent move to capture positions from someone else’s head, because with one movement she misses the third quarter. It is better to place (or move) this checker a little further, preparing for the jump in the third quarter.

3. The biggest danger in the first moves is the “unfortunate” placement of the checkers in case a large jackpot is thrown out (and in very rare cases, not the largest jackpot), take this into account when making your move.

4. Try to position your checkers in the second quarter so as to reach the third quarter in one movement.

5. If the opponent's checkers are already ready to take positions in your first quarter. try to block his moves in at least one movement.

What to follow when capturing someone else's head:

The more you grab, the better.
if you have a choice, capture the senior places (move from the head to 4-5-6).
the tighter the grip, the better; if you have a choice, place the checkers on the “fence”, i.e. consecutively, without intervals.
you need at least one place to avoid getting stuck; if the situation is difficult, try to take a place in the middle (for example, on the opponent’s move from head 3).
as a rule, two places near someone else’s head are enough to move into the ejection zone
if it was not possible to build a fence in the zone near the opponent’s head, rebuild with new checkers and try to capture as much as possible in the release zone; It is preferable to capture places in a cluster and in the center.
if you manage to capture 4 free spaces out of 6 along the opponent’s head, you have a chance to “strangle” him and place a mars; For such an opportunity, you can even risk your defense.
5 out of 6 occupied places on someone else’s head is already 90% Mars, if there are still a lot of checkers on the head.
if you took 5 places at someone else’s head, the sixth one is free, but you can’t reach there, then it makes sense to rearrange the checkers so that the “hole” is closer to the head itself.
The more “stuck” checkers the opponent has and the smaller the move reserve of his “free” checkers, the more justified is the risk of capturing places near the opponent’s head by weakening positions in other parts of the board.

All the points about “seizing” territory from someone else’s head should be applied to yourself from the point of view of defense, blocking strategic fields.

Let's look at one more point related to the beginning of the game.

The only jackpot that allows a checker, moving from your own head, not to bump into someone else’s is 5:5. The path of your checker goes through position 5 (i.e. move 5 from the head) from your head, position 3 at someone else’s head, and the path of the opponent’s checker through his five at his head and your three.

Therefore, many experienced masters especially highlight these two fields near the head and try to occupy them first and, accordingly, close them for themselves.

Alternative moves

It often seems that you can play in different ways and many of the options for moves in long backgammon are the same. However, beginners make a lot of mistakes. The reason is that they evaluate the value of a move in terms of the position on the board that they see before their eyes. However, it is much more important to predict what the position will be for the next move.

To effectively capture an important field, your next move should be to consider which position for capture is most convenient, i.e. where you need to place your checker (within the limits of the choice that you have) in order to most likely occupy the desired field with the next move if your opponent cannot occupy it

Let's consider the probability of a checker hitting the desired field, provided that the roll of the coin is not yet known.

We take 12 fields (6+6) for consideration according to the distance from the target and for each we calculate the probability of hitting the target.

There are 36 cases of lost coins in total.
The probability is equal to the number of “favorable” cases divided by the total number of cases.
The probability of winning the jackpot is 1/36.
The probability of getting any other combination is 2/36 or 1/18.
In our case, probability can be measured as a whole number without a fraction (division by 36), because all probabilities have a denominator of 36.
The probability of a roll that requires one number (for example, 5) is 11 (i.e. 11/36).

From a player's point of view, 1-2 and 2-1 are the same thing. But for calculating probabilities, these are 2 different favorable events. That is why we can say that the probability of throwing 2-1 is 1/18.

From these postulates, it turns out mathematically that to obtain the greatest probability of a checker hitting the desired field, you need to stand behind 6 fields; the probability is about 47%. The presence of an obstacle in the path of the checker’s move does not change the picture - as before, the greatest probability of a hit will be from field 6 to the desired place.

In order to get the maximum probability of one of the two checkers hitting the desired field, they need to be placed 5 and 6 fields respectively; the probability of hitting will be 83%.

How to use this data? Place your checkers in such a way as to get maximum opportunities for further advancement to the desired squares for yourself and minimum opportunities for your opponent.

Lack of moves in long backgammon

The fundamental principle underlying all tactical formations and techniques of long backgammon. - this is a shortage of moves. The ability to operate with the “deficit of moves” of one’s own and one’s opponent is a sign of the highest skill.

Conventionally, there are two types of “move deficit”:

alarming. scarce moves open up strategically important fields (for example, protecting from Mars); at the same time, in order to eliminate scarcity, one has to sacrifice all other factors, for example, not occupying free fields, freeing some previously occupied fields, creating “scarcity” in other places
moderate. deficit moves only mean a loss of points (unplayed moves of dropped dice), and do not lead to serious positional deterioration; We must try to eliminate such shortages, but not sacrifice strategic or tactical objectives

You need to monitor not only your own move deficit, but also your opponent’s deficit. Situations are quite possible when eliminating one’s own can help the opponent eliminate him too, possibly an even more acute deficit.

A lack of moves can be not only harmful, but also useful! This is especially true during a war of fences and attempts to hold an important strategic field. Whenever possible, a checker on this field needs to create a deficit of a move that does not exist in other parts of the board. At the same time, if your opponent occupies it, you can be calm about another checker, in which he will reliably block the deficit move.

Move reserve and move deficit are, in general, the same thing, but from opposite sides. However, it is this side (scarcity of some moves), and not the other (excess or supply of some other moves) that is important for the correct analysis of the situation on the board. If you have a lot of moves for 5, this will not give you much of an advantage, but a shortage of moves for 4 can lead to serious problems and give your opponent the opportunity to build a game or counterplay.

Fence in backgammon

A fence is the pieces of one of the players, built tightly in a row, from 3 to 6 pieces. More than 6 chips, the length of the fence does not matter.

If you have built a fence, you have already created an advantage for yourself. A fence is a source of constant shortage of moves for the opponent and, at the same time, a source of one’s own supply of moves.

3 chips - a fence that does not pose a serious danger to the opponent, but if done correctly, in the right place put and combined with other fences or other types of advantages, then it may well be an effective tool. It is most effective at the beginning of the game in positions on the opponent’s move 4, 5 and 6 from his hand, i.e. when this fence closes moves from the opponent's hand 4-5-6.
4 chips is already a serious cause for concern for the opponent in itself. Built near the opponent’s hand, this fence is already a real threat to make a mars, and if in a position that blocks the opponent’s move from his hand on 3,4,5 and 6, then such a fence is already 70% of the opponent’s mars. Although a lot depends on the number of chips in your hand at the time of installing the fence. Such a fence is quite effective even if it is built in the fourth quarter, i.e. in its release zone.
5 chips – the fence is very dangerous almost anywhere. It is most effective in the opponent's hand when the only move left is 1, 2, or 3.
6 chips – a blind fence that is impossible to pass; almost guarantees a win if it is in the 1st quarter, and almost guarantees a win if it is in the 3rd or 4th quarter.

Fences require the accumulation of checkers at its ends so that when the desired number (or jackpot) is rolled, it can be used to overcome the fence.

To fight a fence, it is important to “hold” the first and second points of the fence, but you need to accumulate checkers mainly at the first point.

Important news:

Backgammon is very ancient oriental game and is still very popular today. At first glance, it seems that learning to play backgammon is quite simple, and no special strategy is required to win at backgammon. You just need to throw the dice and move the chips according to the points you get, and winning depends entirely on random luck.

In fact, this is completely not true; you can play backgammon and win even with fewer points. You can win a brilliant victory if you act thoughtfully and know some tricks of playing backgammon.

From the very beginning of the game, remember that the essence of the game is to remove all your chips from the board before your opponent. To do this, you roll a random number of points on the dice and move your chips according to them.
However, before doing each new move, you need to determine whether it will be useful for your situation. Keep in mind that it is necessary to gain strategic superiority from the very first moves of the game of backgammon
To achieve the greatest success, adhere to the old rule of playing backgammon: go forward with one chip, and take the second from the “head”, that is, from the original position, when all the chips are located on the same first line. This technique will allow you to quickly introduce all the chips into the game and take the most advantageous positions.
At the beginning of the game, do not allow your opponent to occupy more than three adjacent positions near your “head”. Otherwise, this will create more advantages for him and make it much more difficult for you to withdraw your own chips from the starting field. Accordingly, if the number of dropped points and game situation, try to take similar positions on the enemy side.
Do not try to occupy your 6th position from the head, as it does not provide any tactical advantages. It is impossible to move from it to such an important 3rd quarter of the board (to the opponent’s side) and it is extremely inconvenient to advance your checkers. It’s better to try to get up either a little earlier (in the 4-5th position of the first quarter of the board), or already in the middle of the 2nd quarter, so that from this position you can immediately step onto the opponent’s half of the board.

From the very beginning of playing backgammon, pay special attention to the jackpot you get (duplicated points on the game dice - 2x2, 4x4, 6x6, etc.). Kush allows you to make four moves instead of two if necessary, and this is very important point. Therefore, initially try to place your chips taking into account the possibility of getting a double. A successful placement and a timely jackpot can radically change the entire outcome of the game.
If you see your opponent approaching your 1st and 2nd quarters, try to create obstacles for his pieces by consistently occupying 3 to 5 positions in a row. Six points do not come up very often and a solid line of 5 checkers can significantly slow down the opponent’s progress.
When you are already close to the “home” (the last quarter of the board, from where you can start discarding checkers), try to occupy it in a cluster from the middle, occupying the most advantageous positions where it is easy to move your checkers.
While moving, try to protect all your pieces so that none of them is blocked by your opponent's pieces. Otherwise, due to the unfortunate position of one checker, you can get stuck in place for a long time and lose the entire game of backgammon.

Let these seemingly simple tips and little tricks help you gain experience in this logical game of backgammon and win. Have a good game backgammon!

This guide is intended for beginner players.

A checker (chip) is what they use. At the beginning of the game, each player has 15 checkers on the board.

Head - the initial formation of 15 checkers in the first position. As the game progresses, there are fewer and fewer checkers left on the head, but until the last checker it is considered a head. According to the rules, you cannot move more than one checker from your head (except for the very first move in case of a roll of 3:3, 4:4 and 6:6).

Quarter - half of one of the two halves of a backgammon board:

I – the one with which the game begins, i.e. the one where the head is;
II – the quarter following the head (for the opponent this is the release zone);
III – the one where the opponent’s head is;
IV - ejection zone (the last one in the direction of movement of the checkers).

Fence (screen) – two or more checkers standing in a row.

Starting a game of backgammon

The first few moves, although they do not solve serious tactical problems, under certain conditions can seriously affect the course of the game.

The basic rule: we take one checker from the “head”, and move the second one in another place. Those. you need to develop, balance between placing checkers at your own “head” and at the opponent’s “head”, and seize territory. The logic of the game dictates that you need to place one checker to capture a position near your head, and “drive” the second to someone else’s head. The exception is situations when the opponent threatens to build a long fence near his head, for example, of 5 checkers - then it would be smarter to take the free space inside this fence, even if you do not remove a single checker from your head.

1. Try not to allow three or more senior positions to be captured in a row near your head. Accordingly, try to do it yourself from someone else.

4. Try to position your checkers in the second quarter so as to reach the third quarter in one movement.

5. If the opponent's checkers are already ready to take positions in your first quarter. try to block his moves in at least one movement.

What to follow when capturing someone else's head:

The more you grab, the better.
if you have a choice, capture the senior places (move from the head to 4-5-6).
the tighter the grip, the better; if you have a choice, place the checkers on the “fence”, i.e. consecutively, without intervals.
you need at least one place to avoid getting stuck; if the situation is difficult, try to take a place in the middle (for example, on the opponent’s move from head 3).
as a rule, two places near someone else’s head are enough to move into the ejection zone
if it was not possible to build a fence in the zone near the opponent’s head, rebuild with new checkers and try to capture as much as possible in the release zone; It is preferable to capture places in a cluster and in the center.
if you manage to capture 4 free spaces out of 6 along the opponent’s head, you have a chance to “strangle” him and place a mars; For such an opportunity, you can even risk your defense.
5 out of 6 occupied places on someone else’s head is already 90% Mars, if there are still a lot of checkers on the head.
if you took 5 places at someone else’s head, the sixth one is free, but you can’t reach there, then it makes sense to rearrange the checkers so that the “hole” is closer to the head itself.
The more “stuck” checkers the opponent has and the smaller the move reserve of his “free” checkers, the more justified is the risk of capturing places near the opponent’s head by weakening positions in other parts of the board.

All the points about “seizing” territory from someone else’s head should be applied to yourself from the point of view of defense, blocking strategic fields.

Let's look at one more point related to the beginning of the game.

Therefore, many experienced masters especially highlight these two fields near the head and try to occupy them first and, accordingly, close them for themselves.

Alternative moves

Let's consider the probability of a checker hitting the desired field, provided that the roll of the coin is not yet known.

We take 12 fields (6+6) for consideration according to the distance from the target and for each we calculate the probability of hitting the target.

There are 36 cases of lost coins in total.
The probability is equal to the number of “favorable” cases divided by the total number of cases.
The probability of winning the jackpot is 1/36.
The probability of getting any other combination is 2/36 or 1/18.
In our case, probability can be measured as a whole number without a fraction (division by 36), because all probabilities have a denominator of 36.
The probability of a roll that requires one number (for example, 5) is 11 (i.e. 11/36).

In order to get the maximum probability of one of the two checkers hitting the desired field, they need to be placed 5 and 6 fields respectively; the probability of hitting will be 83%.

How to use this data? Place your checkers in such a way as to get maximum opportunities for further advancement to the desired squares for yourself and minimum opportunities for your opponent.

Lack of moves in long backgammon

Conventionally, there are two types of “move deficit”:

alarming. scarce moves open up strategically important fields (for example, protecting from Mars); at the same time, in order to eliminate scarcity, one has to sacrifice all other factors, for example, not occupying free fields, freeing some previously occupied fields, creating “scarcity” in other places
moderate. deficit moves only mean a loss of points (unplayed moves of dropped dice), and do not lead to serious positional deterioration; We must try to eliminate such shortages, but not sacrifice strategic or tactical objectives

Fence in backgammon

A fence is the pieces of one of the players, built tightly in a row, from 3 to 6 pieces. More than 6 chips, the length of the fence does not matter.

3 chips - a fence that does not pose a serious danger to the opponent, but if it is placed correctly, in the right place and combined with other fences or other types of advantages, then it can very well be an effective tool. It is most effective at the beginning of the game in positions on the opponent’s move 4, 5 and 6 from his hand, i.e. when this fence closes moves from the opponent's hand 4-5-6.
4 chips is already a serious cause for concern for the opponent in itself. Built near the opponent’s hand, this fence is already a real threat to make a mars, and if in a position that blocks the opponent’s move from his hand on 3,4,5 and 6, then such a fence is already 70% of the opponent’s mars. Although a lot depends on the number of chips in your hand at the time of installing the fence. Such a fence is quite effective even if it is built in the fourth quarter, i.e. in its release zone.
5 chips – the fence is very dangerous almost anywhere. It is most effective in the opponent's hand when the only move left is 1, 2, or 3.
6 chips – a blind fence that is impossible to pass; almost guarantees a win if it is in the 1st quarter, and almost guarantees a win if it is in the 3rd or 4th quarter.

Fences require the accumulation of checkers at its ends so that when the desired number (or jackpot) is rolled, it can be used to overcome the fence.

To combat a fence, it is important to “hold” the first and second points of the fence, but you need to accumulate checkers mainly at the first point.

Backgammon – logic game in checkers, in which the dice introduce an element of probability, making the game unpredictable. Backgammon is one of the oldest mind games, which combined elements of strategy and chance.

The randomness of the game depends on the placement of the dice. No one is able to predict the combination of dice before throwing, much less predict what the next throws will be. The main element of backgammon is not passion, but intellectuality and sport, and therefore the game is considered a sports-logical one.

If you want to become good player in backgammon, learn not just to play, but to understand how to win at backgammon. To do this, you must learn to model and predict options for changing situations in the game, assume what steps your opponent will take and, if necessary, “take risks” and be able to calculate them in advance.

And although there is a certain dependence on the dice in backgammon, the player himself makes the decision when choosing a move. Understanding the intricacies of the game, the player is able to react to unpredictable changes, suggest options for continuing the game, and wait for the combinations necessary to advance.

The strategy of playing backgammon requires concentration and clarity of thought from the player, the ability to calculate various combinations and moves and depending on how the dice fall out. Such skills are achieved through long training and numerous games. An important aspect is the player’s endurance.

And now a few words about the backgammon strategy itself:

Evaluate the position. If you correctly assess the position, you will receive the most powerful tool in backgammon - the cube, which will complicate the game and make it more dynamic. The cube will allow you and your opponent to raise the stakes in the game, increasing the number of points in the drawing.
Building your board - creating many points in the house. This strategy has two main advantages - it makes it difficult for the enemy to escape and it makes it difficult to introduce blots. If you knock down your opponent's blots, you can gain absolute control of the board.
Risk. You may risk leaving vulnerable blots. This is done in order to have the opportunity to take winning positions.
Departure. Be careful when leaving the enemy's house. Your opponent's home board will have your checkers placed on it. It is in your interests to quickly remove checkers, this is especially important if the opponent begins to build up his home board.
Reverse game. Implies creation large quantity anchors on your opponent's home board, which will prevent him from bringing checkers into the house, and he will be forced to expose them to attack.

Try playing backgammon. Game tactics, complex combinations, the need to calculate possible combinations in advance and the element of surprise introduced dice, makes backgammon one of the most exciting board games.

Debut

Mid game

End

Blocks

General principles and game strategy

Backgammon workshop

Zary and Generator

Psychological aspects of the game

INTRODUCTION

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Despite the great popularity of backgammon in Russia and the CIS countries, until recently there were no serious developments in the theory of this game in the available literature.

But now there are at least 2 books completely devoted to how to play long backgammon correctly: the author of this reference book is Nazim Akhundov (Moscow, 2007) and Rodion Chebotarev (Dnepropetrovsk, 2010).

Unfortunately, there is still no program that can analyze long backgammon games and positions at an acceptable level. But let's hope it will appear in the coming years.

This work is an attempt to collect in one place, analyze and process the most important of what the author studied and published at different times on the topic of “long backgammon”.

The work is very conventionally called a reference book. Mainly because the information collected in it is diverse.

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1. Indicate the source

The above does not apply to cases of commercial use, which must be agreed with the author.

TERMS

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Undoubtedly, any player has the right to use other terms, because The terms proposed by the author are his personal perception of what words should be used.

You have the right to skip this section and use the terms to which you are accustomed, however, then reading the materials in this reference book will become difficult for you.

For better understanding text in this work, it is recommended to look at the terms suggested below.

When talking about position on the backgammon board, we often use some specific backgammon words, or rather terms. Many of them are clear to backgammon players. But some, without specific reference to the board, can be confusing.

1. What backgammon is played with. Checkers, chips, stones. Sometimes the word stones means zary. The author suggests using the word “ checkers", unlike casino chips, which also have a denomination ($100 chip, $10 chip, etc.)

2. The place on the board where the checkers stand. It is called differently: field, hole, position, point. There are 24 of them in total. In the book, I suggested using the word “field”. However, the President of the RFSNB, Gul Eldar Alievich, managed to convince me that the term “ paragraph" fits better. Here and below, the points are numbered from 1 to 24 (counting from the base of white checkers). Point No. 1 – starting position checkers (white), point No. 24 – the last point of the board, after which the checker (white) is removed from the board (thrown away).

3. « Move" The term is clear to everyone. The player whose turn it is to play rolls the Zara and must play the numbers drawn. This will be the move. The move consists of " movements" There can be up to four movements in one move. Usually there are two. But, if the same numbers fall out at dawn, then there are four movements.

This is the case " full speed».

But it happens that it is impossible to make all the movements, then a move can consist of three, two or one movement.

This " partial stroke».

There may also be a situation where a player is forced to skip a move completely. This is when walking is not possible. In this case, during zero movements or “ skipping a move».

4. Sometimes it is important to indicate which part of the board the game is on. In what follows we will use the term “ quarter" The first is where the starting position is. Next are the second, third and fourth (the one where the checkers are thrown away).

5. The place where all the checkers are collected at the beginning of the game (point No. 1). The words “hand” and “head” are often used. Sometimes this leads to confusion. This term is important and often used. According to the rules, you cannot move more than one checker from your hand (except for the first move). The book uses the word " hand" However, it should be recognized that the term “head” is used no less often by players. Apparently, it is more logical to recognize the equality of both these terms, i.e. their equal applicability. The author believes that the term “ head" Same.

6. Several checkers standing in a row, forming some kind of obstacle. IN backgammon There is a concept of “prime”, but there the checkers are in pairs, and in long ones they can be in 1 row. Therefore, such a construction could be called prime, block, overlap. Hereinafter we will use the term “ block».

7. Several (3 or more) checkers in one point. Sometimes players say "sausage" or "sausage". Options: “column”, “stack”, “pack”. The term “ column».

8. Fourth quarter. This is often where players call home. Word " house" is commonly used to refer to the fourth quarter.

9. First quarter. To avoid confusion, we will call the first quarter of the board “ base».

10. In backgammon there is a term “builder” (builder). A spare checker, ready to create a new pair. In long backgammon it is sometimes necessary to designate checkers that perform similar functions. This is when the second or third checker is placed in a column on some point, so that with the next move you can capture more distant points without opening the position from which you move. In the reference book such a checker is called “ avanta" The first (bottom) checker at the point where the avant stands will hereinafter be called “ springboard».

11. Lack of moves when a specific number is rolled – “ power deficit"(shortage of A's, deficit of C's, etc.).

12. A certain number of moves that can be made (moving some of the checkers) without creating a critical situation for yourself with such moves, for example, without opening important points. For such a set of moves the term “ power reserve" Often the word “reserve” is simply used. The meaning of “move deficit” and “move reserve” is the same. It's the same as a glass being 2/3 full or a glass being 1/3 empty.

13. Zary (cubes). The word zary refers only to the zary themselves. What falls at dawn is called “ throw" A roll is two numbers, each of which is from 1 to 6. When the same numbers come up on both wheels, such a throw is called “ jackpot».

All terms are further used without quotation marks.

RULES.

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