just_lady's ECO WIKI

Hola! VERY WELCOME!!, my name is Irma, official welcomer for the club...be sure to follow this steps to be updated in all what is going on in our club.

TOURNAMENT & TEAM-MATCH NOTICES:

Make sure you are always notified.
1- Go to Club Boards in the upper-right corner of the Main Club Page.
Put a check mark in the empty box in front of For the Love of Draughts Club.
2- Under Club Options on the right side of the Main Club Page, click on Membership. Then, under Club Preferences, make sure that the club-news option is turned on.
3- You may also check under For the Love of Draughts Information.
The status of current tournaments and matches is always given just a few lines below.

CLUB TEAMS AND LADDERS:
Sign up under "Our Teams" and in "Our ladders" by putting a check mark in the box for each of your choices.
Click on "View the ladder for this team" for any variant to find the ladder.
Seat numbers are a second ladder; you can challenge players above you and move up.

DISCUSSION BOARD RULES:

1- Politics and religion, being too divisive, are not to be discussed on this open forum.
2- Discriminatory statements, sexual matters, personal accusations and mean-spirited comments are all to be avoided.
3- If you break these rules, you must apologise.
4- If you refuse to apologise, you will be thrown out of the club.
5- If you continue to break the rules, you will be thrown out of the club.
6- It is everyones responsibility to maintain a friendly environment.

Any doubt send a message to our club owner T-Rex or to me....
Enjoy the club!!

just lady Welcomer....

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STRATEGY FOR BACKGAMMON

These tips were taken from the FAQ at the newsgroup rec.games.backgammon Single checkers (blots) on a point are vulnerable to enemy attack and must start over if hit by n opponent's checker. Two or more checkers on a point are safe from attack and can also be used for blocking or trapping your opponent.

Essentially backgammon is a race to see who takes off all of his checkers first. However, the shortest distance between two points is not always a straight line. Most beginners, rarely leave exposed checkers and hit as often as they can. As you will find out, this seemingly logical approach is not the best strategy. The following is a simplification of some of the factors that you should consider in forming a winning game plan:

Distribution

Distribution is how evenly your checkers are divided among the points occupied. It is usually better to have 3 checkers each on two different points rather than 4 checkers one and 2 on the other. You should rarely have six checkers on a point and almost never have any more. A player with even distribution will seemingly get "luckier" dice than his less flexible opponent.

Exposure

Don't be afraid to leave shots early in the game to establish a strong offense or defense. Be more cautious as your enemy's home board gets stronger. The more points he has in his home board, the more difficult it will be for you to re-enter after being hit.
Conversely, the more points that you control in your enemy's home board (anchors) the bolder you may play. Even if his board is weak, limit the number of blots (single checkers) to no more than four. If you are significantly ahead in the race or position, then restrict your exposure to maintain your lead.
Blocking and Priming
Try to build points without gaps between them directly in front of the enemy checkers in your home board to prevent their escape. Establishing these critical points as early as possible in approximate order of importance: 5, 4, 7 to start your blockade. Six points in a row is called a prime. This makes it impossible for your opponent to escape for as long as you can maintain that structure.

Hitting

Try to hit checkers that are the most advanced or checkers that your opponent would like to cover to establish an important point. Attack only when it is advantageous to do so. For example, if you already have two enemy checkers on the bar, it is more critical to make another point in your home board than to hit a third checker. Also refrain from hitting if it makes you more vulnerable than your opponent. Keep your objectives in mind and don't be side-tracked. However, there is an old backgammon adage that still carries weight, "When in doubt, hit."

Anchoring

Anchoring is establishing a defensive point (anchor) in your enemies home board. This gives you a landing spot to come in on should you get hit and prevents your opponent from making his home board. Early in the game try to establish anchors on the higher points (20,21). If you become significantly behind in the race, the lower points (22,23,24) have more value as your strategy is to build your home board and wait for a shot. If you have two anchors try to keep them on adjacent points.

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Backgammon Notation

When discussing or explaining a backgammon position, it's helpful to have a set of notation.

A pip or a point is merely one of the 24 spaces on the board where checkers are put.

The bar is the place where checkers that are hit go - this is sometimes called the 25-point.

The remaining points are numbered from highest to lowest as far as how far they are from being taken off. The 24-point is the point furthest from being borne off - it's the point that you start the game with two checkers on. Every point has two numbers. Your 24-point is also your opponent's one-point (also called the ace-point). Your 5-point is your opponent's 20-point. So, for example, if you roll an opening 3-1, the usual move would be denoted 8/5 6/5

  13  14  15  16  17  18     19  20  21  22  23  24 
|  o               x      | | x                   o |
|  o               x      | | x                   o |
|  o               x      | | x                     |
|  o                      | | x                     |
|  o                      | | x                     |
|                         | |                       |
|                         | |                       |
|                         | |                       |
|  x                      | | o                     |
|  x                      | | o                     |
|  x               o      | | o                     |
|  x               o      | | o                   x |
|  x               o      | | o                   x |
  12  11  10   9   8   7      6   5   4   3   2   1

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The basic idea is simple. You agree on a match length say 7 points and each game you win you score 1 point. You keep playing until one player has 7 points and wins the match. So in a close match you may have to play 13 games with the final score being 7-6.

Complication #1 - Gammons and Backgammons

This is fairly straight-forward too. At the end of a game if the loser has failed to bear off any of his men, the winner gets 2 points instead of 1. This is called a GAMMON. If in addition, the loser still has men in his opponent's home board (this is the quarter of the board you re-enter on when you are on the bar) then the winner gets 3 points instead of 1. This is called a BACKGAMMON. Note that these are pretty rare and usually avoidable. Because you can now get more than 1 point from each game, this tends to reduce the number of games you have to play until someone reaches the winning number of points.

Complication #2 - The Doubling Cube

Now the tricky bit. When playing for real (ie not on a computer) the cube is a special die with faces numbered 2,4,8,16,32,64 instead of 1,2,3,4,5,6. At the start of each new game the cube is not in operation. The idea is that when a player feels confident that he is in a good position, he picks up the cube, brings the 2 to the top and places it in front of his opponent. His opponent can either accept the double or decline it. If he declines it, that game is over and the first player wins 1 point. If he accepts the cube, the stake is doubled. ie the basic game is now worth 2 points, a gammon 4 points and a backgammon 6 points. If a player accepts the double, he now 'owns' the cube. This means if his position improves sufficiently he can turn the cube to 4 and re-offer it to his opponent. If it is now declined, he wins 2 points (the value of the cube before the offer). If it is accepted, the basic game is now worth 4 points - the value now showing on the cube. In theory this process can continue until the cube shows 64. Using the cube can obviously reduce the number of games actually played considerably.

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TACTITS FOR BEGINNERS

Backgammon tactics - for beginners mainly.

Good moves are a matter of individual skill, but the best plan for doubles at the start, which should be memorised, are:-

6-6 two stones from point 1 to point 7 - (black's position) and two stones from point 12 to point 18 (white's bar point).

5-5 two stones from point 12 to point 22.

4-4 two stones from point 1 to point 5 and two stones from point 12 to point 16.

3-3 two stones from point 19 to point 22 and two stones from point 17 to point 20. Another good move is two stones from point 12 to point 18.

2-2 two stones from point 1 to point 5, or two from point 12 to point 14 and two from point 19 to point 21.

1-1 the best opening throw is move two stones from point 17 to point 18 and two from point 19 to point 20. That would get you three blocking points.

The best regular throws and moves at the start are:

6-5 move one stone from point 1 to point 12.

6-4 move one stone from point 1 to point 7 and one from point 12 to point 16.

6-3 move one stones from point 1 to point 7 and one from point 12 to point 15.

6-2 move one stones from point 1 to point 3 and to one from point 1 to point 7.

6-1 move one stone from point 12 to point 18 and one from point 17 to point 18.

5-4 move one stone from point 1 to point 5 and one from point 12 to point 17.

5-3 move one stone from point 17 to point 22 and one from point 19 to point 22.

5-2 move two stones from from point 12, one to point 10 and the other from point 17.

5-1 move one stone from point 1 to point 2 and one from point 12 to point 17.

4-3 move two stones from point 1, one to point 4 and the other from point 5

4-2 move one stone from 17 to point 21 and one from point 19 to point 21.

4-1 move one stone from point 12 to point 17.

3-2 move one stone from point 1 to point 4 and one from point 12 to point 14.

3-1 move one stone from point 17 to point 20 and one from point 19 to point 20.

2-1 move one stone from point 1 to point 2 and one from point 12 to point 14.

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STRATEGY FOR BEGINNERS Just as important as memorising good opening moves are:

Don't keep more than two men on one point since this limits one's potential blocking capability.
On the other hand, avoid playing out a whole string of singles in an attempt to set up a series of blocks. If any one of these pips get hit before being joined by another, time will immediately have to be wasted in getting the hit man off the bar and back into play. The best way is to try to set up one block at a time.

Giving careful consideration to the overall state of the game before hitting a single pip on your own inner table, ie the last 6 points, since when that man re-enters from the bar, he may hit you just when you are ready to start 'bearing-off'. If you have the advantage, it will probably pay to leave the single opposition untouched and make some other move instead.

When forced to leave a 'blot', try to place it as far from the opposite pip as possible. But when the single HAS to be placed close to an opposing man, make it as close as possible. One point away ia better than three points, for example.

When taking pieces from the board, in the 'bearing off" process, always give priority to blocking if there is an opposing pip on the bar. It is better to move the pips gradually towards the edge of the board, in a rather ponderous way, than to send one pip hurrying along on its own, exposing to a possible hit.

And a word about the doubling dice,
When all white's pieces are disengaged from those of the opposition, or visa-versa, no further contact between the two are possible. No more blots, and both are rushing their pieces into their respective inner tables, and then bear them off as quickly as possible. If one player is ahead, he/she would be wise to double id possible. On the other hand, if you are well behind, it may be possible to playing "back-game". This means deliberately keeping back two, or even three or four, pieces in the opponent's inner table, thus maintaining contact for as long as possible. The logic is that sooner or later, the back-game player will be able to hit a blot or two, sending some of his/her opponent's pieces back to the bar, and recovering some of thge ground.

In practice, however, a back-game strategy should only be used as a last resort.

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