Come
on all you backgammon addicts. let's help others
improve their game with your insight and strategies
involed in this game,
Our
first submission is from an old friend from
the Yahoo Message Boards. I have played him
a few times and he knows what he is talking
about. Thanks Cherobee for this addiction to
the Bunny Web Site.
BASICS
OF DOUBLING IN YAHOO BACKGAMMON
by Cherobee
The
following advice is based on the fact that the
change in your rating at the end of a match
does not depend on the final score of the match.
It depends only on whether you won or lost the
match, the difference between opponents' current
ratings, your "experience" and the
match length. For example: against a given opponent,
your rating will rise by the same amount in
a 5-point match whether you win 5-4 or 32-1.
I will mostly illustrate these basics by using
the 3-point match as an example, but the same
basic ideas apply to matches of any length.
Remember, doubling is a vitally important part
of Backgammon. Without mastering the basics
given below you will never be a good player.
1. When you are ahead 2-1 in a 3-point match,
you should never double. You only need one more
point to win the match. The match will be over
whether you win 3-1 or 4-1, and either way your
rating will rise by the same amount. Thus, you
have nothing to gain. But you have potentially
plenty to lose. If you double, your opponent
will gratefully accept. He doesn't care if he
loses 1-3 or 1-4, as his rating will decline
the same amount either way. You will be giving
him a free chance to win the match by coming
from behind to win the present game.
2. When you are losing 1-2 in a 3-point match
and the Crawford (no doubling allowed) game
has already been played, you should automatically
double right at the beginning of the game. You
have nothing to lose by doubling. If you lose
this game, your rating will decline by the same
amount whether you lose 1-3 or 1-4 However,
you have everything to gain by doubling: If
you win this game, you win the match. If you
don't double and you win this game (without
a gammon), the match will then only be a 2-2
tie.
3. Suppose you are behind 0-1 in a 3-point match,
your opponent doubles and you accept. Then you
must immediately redouble (even though you are
already the underdog in this game). You have
noting to lose (it doesn't matter whether you
lose 0-3 or 0-5) and everything to gain: if
you redouble and win this game, you win the
match.
4.
Normally, you need about a 70% (not 51%, as
you may think) chance of winning the game to
safely offer the first double. You need this
safety margin because of the times when you
will be redoubled and drop. In situations, however,
where the cube will be "dead" after
you double, you should double with just a 51%
chance of winning the game. For example, with
the score at 1-1 in a 3-point match, you double
if you have at least a 51% chance of winning.
This is because you cannot be redoubled. With
the cube already at 2, a redouble is meaningless
(it doesn't matter whether your opponent wins
the match 3-1 or 5-1). For the same reason,
you should double in a 2-point match when you
have at least a 51% chance of winning the game
and the score is 0-0. You'd be amazed at how
many Yahoo players double at a score of 1-1
in a 2- point match, even though this double
is meaningless. You'd be even more amazed at
how many players drop this double!
5.
The question of when you should accept a double
is too complicated to enter into here. In "money"
play, where there is a payment after each separate
game and no "match length", it can
easily be proved that you should accept a double
if you have minimal chances of being gammoned
and will win the game from the current position
at least 25% of the time. However, in "tournament"
play, as we have at Yahoo, the situation is
more complex and your decision depends also
on the current match score.
6.
Never do your opponent the favor of doubling
him when you have good chances to gammon him.
He will gratefully drop, losing only 1 point
instead of 2 points in the probable gammon.
You are letting him off the hook cheaply.
7. A good backgame will win about half the time.
Therefore, don't double your opponent if he
has one. If you have a good backgame and are
doubled, you should accept, even though when
you lose you will often lose a gammon.
8.
In a 1-point match, doubling is completely meaningless.
Yet there are Yahoo players who will actually
drop such a double! Playing strategy is radically
altered here since there is no fear of being
gammoned. Only for simpletons.
9. 101-point matches are only for the demented.
10. The quickest way to improve your doubling
skills is to play against Jellyfish at level
7 (or some other, comparable, software. JF is
not only the strongest player you will ever
face, but it also tutors you as you play.
