Meanwhile, his chances of making a good anchor won’t get bigger, because unless he gets hit, he can’t add any new checkers to his anchor-making list. Add in his doubles, and Black becomes a favorite to make a key blocking point, each turn! Pull a checker from the midpoint to the 9-point, for example, and Black will suddenly have nine non-doubles working on those points (6-1, 6-2, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 4-3, 4-2, 5-2, and 5-4). But that number will grow dramatically as soon as he adds even a single builder in his outfield. On Black’s side of the board, he currently has six rolls (3-1, 4-2, and 6-1) that make a good blocking point. ![]() ![]() Right now Black has one non-double (4-2) that makes the 20-point, and another one (6-4) that makes the almost equally valuable bar-point. How hard is it to make a good anchor, compared to the difficulty of making blocking points? This question almost always favors making the anchor. Finally, we have to consider degree of difficulty. Making the anchor with 24/20 22/20 now gets the edge. The only road to equality is hopping the structure entirely and anchoring on the bar-point, and that will be hard to do.Ĭonclusion: White’s 5-point has risen in important, while Black’s 4-point hasn’t changed much. Even anchoring on the 3-point in front of the structure merely allows the defender to hang on in a clearly inferior position. Whoever makes that structure in the early game is on the verge of a powerful double. But the combination of the 4-point, 5-point, and 6-point, which I like to call the Golden Structure, is a real game-changer. While the 5-point is the best point to have in the early going, its power can be mostly neutralized if the opponent then makes the 4-point anchor. Back in the 1970s, Paul Magriel, in his classic book Backgammon, labeled the 5-point the “Golden Point”, signifying its importance in the opening. With the 4-point made, White’s 5-point becomes even more valuable (for both sides) because of the strength of the 4-5-6 structure. In addition, however, the point White has made is his 4-point. That means an anchor, any anchor, is more important than it used to be, because any attack that White launches is now more likely to be successful. First, White has actually made an inner board point. All in all, Black’s 4-point is just about as valuable as on the opening roll.īut on White’s side of the board, the position has changed a lot. White is still anchored on Black’s 1-point. Black has moved a builder from the 13-point to the 8-point, giving him a little better diversification than he had before. On Black’s side of the board, not much has changed from the starting position. ![]() Now we have to look and see how the actual position we’re in affects the value of the points. Only considering intrinsic value, the White 5-point (your 20-point) is the top choice. ![]() Other points are much weaker than these key blocking points. The most valuable points in the early going are the two 5-points, closely followed by the 4-points and the bar-points, which are about equal. We’ll start with the intrinsic value of the points. Third, what’s the degree of difficulty for making each point? Second, how do the particular circumstances of the position affect the absolute value of the point? But which point should we pick?Įarly game problems where you have a choice of good points to make can usually be solved by asking yourself three key questions.įirst, which point is intrinsically more important? Anything else is a waste of a great shot. There are two clear candidates here make your own 4-point, or your opponent’s 5-point (your 20-point).
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