Backgammon Test - Question & Answers
Question 3:
Red has one checker on the bar and has rolled a "double 2".
What is the proper play?
Backgammon Test - Question & Answers |
Answer 3:Red was fortunate enough to roll a double 2 here and escape from the bar. The first three 2's are almost automatic... Red enters on the 23-point and plays 13 to 9, sending Blue to the bar. Red should use his final 2 with his next throw in mind. Ideally, he would like to be able to close out his home board and he should make the play that gives him the best chance of doing this. Moving a checker from his six-point to his four-point, would give Red a total 17 ways to cover the blot on his 1-point on his following turn. Only slightly better is playing 13 to 11, which gives Red a total of 19 ways to cover that blot. But Red should use his final 2 to cover the the blot on his one-point now, creating a blot on his three-point as shown below:  It doesn't make much difference at this point, whether Blue enters on Red's one-point or three-point. Blue has a strong five-point inner board and Red does have three other blots in all. However this way, if Blue does remain on the bar, (and needing a 3, Blue only has a 31% chance of re-entering) Red's blot-switching play produces a whopping 28 rolls which close his board! (The difference, of course, is that this way Red has a checker which is now exactly six points away.) From Ed's Backgammon Problems |
