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Backgammon lessons, beginner to pro

A tiered backgammon course: 13 concepts from beginner to pro, each with a board diagram, the probabilities computed from all 36 dice outcomes, and the thing most players believe about it that is wrong.

Most backgammon teaching stops at the rules. These pages start where the rules end: each one takes a single idea, draws the position it comes from, computes the odds that decide it, and names the thing club players reliably get wrong about it. Work down the tiers in order, or jump to whatever just cost you a game.

Beginner5 lessons

What the board is doing and why. Enough to play a real game without being lost.

• What is a blot in backgammon?A blot is a point holding exactly one of your checkers.
• The bar point, and why it is worth so muchThe bar point is your 7-point, the one directly beside the bar.
• How to count pips without slowing the game downThe pip count is the total distance all fifteen of your checkers have left to travel.
• Rolling doubles in backgammon: the rule and what it is worthWhen both dice show the same number you play that number four times instead of twice.
• Backgammon scoring: how a win becomes one, two or three pointsA backgammon win is worth one, two or three points depending on how badly the loser was beaten, and then the doubling cube multip...

Intermediate4 lessons

The ideas that separate someone who knows the rules from someone who is hard to beat.

• The Jacoby rule: what it is and when it appliesUnder the Jacoby rule, a gammon or backgammon counts as a single point unless the doubling cube has been turned at least once.
• The golden anchor: why the 20-point decides gamesThe 20-point is called the golden anchor, and it is probably the most underrated point on the board for players below expert leve...
• Priming: the wall that no die can jumpA prime is a run of consecutive points you own.
• When to double: the question most players get wrongThe doubling cube is where most of the skill in backgammon lives, and where most casual players give away the most equity.

Expert2 lessons

Positions where the obvious move is wrong, and the reasoning that tells you so.

• Entering from the bar: the exact numbersWhen a checker is on the bar, nothing else can move until it enters.
• Timing: the resource nobody tells beginners aboutTiming is the hidden clock in every backgammon position.

Pro2 lessons

Equity, match score and the places where strong players still disagree.

• Match equity: why the score changes every decisionIn match play the same position can be a clear double at one score and a clear error at another.
• Gammon price: the number behind aggressive playGammon price is how much a gammon is worth to you right now, relative to a plain win.

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