I used to see backgammon as a game of war, but nowadays more as a game of escaping the prison. You want to be as close to the fence as possible (golden point), and not have too many guards in front of you (prime). If you can't escape the prison, send more men to create an uprising and take over the prison (backgame). If you escape, tip your toes (racegame), if you stay trapped, take a guard hostage (hit)
After reading Magriel's book, I learned about the importance of the golden point. For a long time, I much preferred to roll a 6-1 instead of a 3-1in an opening. LOL Now I understand that the golden point is better than the bar point because the golden point is also an inner point, and because if your opponent gets your 5 point, they are in a better position to escape. Thanks for the video
I would love to play this guy. Can you imagine the things you would learn and pick up playing against a grandmaster? 45 year player here, so yeah, I know my way around a gammon board a bit. In a match to 25, I do believe Marc would smoke me.
Good video, but I have two questions. 1. Which is more important: my golden point, or my opponent’s? 2. When do you break the golden point? Do you break it to hit a blot, even if early in the game? Or do you hang on to it as long as possible?
Thanks! ad 1.: they are pretty much equally important. When you make the 20-point you eliminate your opponent's offense (prime and blitz), and you are positioning yourself well in both scenarios whether you are down or ahead in the race. If you are down in the race, you will have a strong anchor to play a contact game. If you are up in the race you are ready to jump out and come home, if you roll a big double. However the 5-point is improving your offensive game plans (prime and blitz) and as in most sports offense seems to be slightly more important than defense. ad 2.: You never break the 20-point if you are down in the race (you have more pips to go). You might break it if you are ahead in the race and you have no other reasonable alternatives. If you are ahead in the race you prefer to just wait for doubles and then run both checkers home at the same time. You don't want to let go of the golden point to early, it's safeguarding you from getting primed and blitzed.
In the updated version of Magriels book he said because of Snowie he changed his opinion and considers the opponents bar point, the 18, to be the golden point not the 20 point. Idk... It's real weird.
@@BackgammonGalaxy yes, here's some more info from an old reddit post I made when I got the book. www.reddit.com/r/backgammon/comments/2scxdu/would_the_real_golden_point_please_stand_up/
hi Mark.. in türkiye we have different style. as you know we start with doubles. and also there is no double. as u guess opp can go away by 66. i think this goint to change a bit bar points evaluation. am i agree)
The default play is 24/21(2) 13/10(2) (the same with 44). However, if your opponent has a lone checker on your 5- or 3-point, then you can blitz with 33 and play: 8/5*(2) 6/3(2).
@@BackgammonGalaxy I don't really understand this. If the goal is to prime/make inner points, why wouldn't you make the 5-point with the 3-3 on an early roll? I understand the concept of builders and outer primes, but wouldn't making the 5 point outweigh that? Really enjoying the tutorials, and *REALLY* looking forward to a new, less expensive board from @BackgammonGalaxy. Please keep the board and checkers a good size. I'm willing to sacrifice some material quality for the tournament size. Teaching my 12 year old daughter the game, and a great board makes all the difference. Thanks for all the work your doing to expand the game. A great representative for Backgammon and Backgammon Galaxy.
@3:11 I wouldn’t play it as he played, if you play 4+1 inside you can get both checkers. There is no logical reason to hit only 1 checkers in that case
double-hitting is a mistake. As Marc explains, when the loose checker is placed on your 5-point it's better to hit loose and stay slotted, in order to make the 5-point (the golden point). If the opponent had opened with 41: 24/23 13/9, then double hitting with 4-1 is correct (6/2*/1*). But after opening 54: 13/8 24/20 then 41: 13/9 6/5* is correct as Marc explains why.
I see a lot of errors on dbl 4’s with the golden point open. Instead of moving their mid stones to the 5point, my opponents split it up between 2 different groupings and move them each up 4 spots. Best to go 8 spaces w/ 2 stones and take the Golden Point.
I would like to know more about the rules at BACKGAMMON GALAXY? Can you please explain how this rule is a new ruling system and how it is legal to implement this rule as a new standard of play......this is the response from BACKGAMMON GALAXY when I questioned why when I lose a match I receive the penalty of lowering my ranking score and when I win a match from a higher ranked player I do NOT get rewarded any ranking points: *The Galaxy Rating system (GR), is a new and innovative system of ranking players, and the way it works: To win GR from your opponent, you have to win both the match AND the error rate battle (the two crowns). If you win one, but not the other, it's a GR draw.* Seems like a scam to keep higher ranked players UP and lower ranked players DOWN......
@@BackgammonGalaxy i'm really blown away by this because i always thought backgammon was just a silly little game but now i'm learning that it is so much more, probably at least as big of a deal as chess. All I can say is I'm super motivated to learn to play it and get into it. Your videos have been a great help so far!!
Marc, is there any way to get your books online, i mean electronic edition? I don't see the kindle version in Amazon. Waiting for your favourable answer. Cheers!
3:08 when rolling the 4/1 could you also think of moving to the 5 and the 20 point, instead of moving to the 5 and 9 point. In order to go for both your own and your opponents 5 point? Or are you just trying to much, and it really doesn't make sense to have both points if you capture your 5 point? (Please keep in mind that I'm a novice player, so many question might seem stupid to you, but not to me. I just want to learn and improve my knowledge og the game). Thanks in advance.
That is a great question! It makes logical sense. However, there are some serious issue with playing 24/20 6/5: - as a general concept you don't want to play loose on both sides of the board at the same time. This opens you up for getting blitzed. - tactics: you are diversifying your opponent's dice numbers so more of them are really good. For the opponent he will now hit your slot with a 4 and he will hit loose on his 5-point with an ace and a three. - there are some nasty double hitters. "Weak rolls" like 41 and 43 all of a sudden becomes really strong double hitters. For these reasons 24/20 6/5 is not a top contender with an opening 41. Only 24/23 13/9 and 13/9 6/5 are in contention, with 13/8 and 24/20 24/23 behind them. 24/20 6/5 is all the way down on the fifth place.
On Backgammon Galaxy, it is always seen from the users perspective, which is bottom player. The home board is always to the right, where the five checkers start on the 6-point.
@@chufflangs find the lonely two checkers however the board is set up (meaning the board is set up to play clockwise or anti-clockwise.). Those two checkers can only move in one direction. That’s the direction all your checkers will move. The two back checkers will have to travel in a horseshoe shape to bear off into the tray on the other side of the board. If you are moving in an anti-clockwise direction, so will your opponent move anti-clockwise as judged from her position on the other side of the board.
I have to say that THERE ARE SO MANY VARIABLES IN THIS GAME BECAUSE OF THE ROLLS OF THE DICE, what the system is programed that is a correct move may NOT BE depending on the roll of the dice..... THE CORRECT MOVE MAY BE TO LEAVE AN EXPOSED CHECKER but only a FOOL will leave an exposed checker if it can be covered/paired. THE RULES HERE ARE A MATTER OF OPINION and that is exactly what it is....AN OPINION!!!! THERE ARE NO RULES THAT A PLAYER HAS TO FOLLOW EXACT MOVEMENTS ACCORDING TO EACH ROLL OF THE DICE. IT COMES DOWN TO A WIN IS A WIN, AND A LOSS IS A LOSS. ERROR BATTLES is a made up strategy for winners to stay winners and beginners/losers not to advance......kind of what is going on today in politics. HAS BACKGAMMON TURNED INTO A POLITICAL GAME?
