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Robertie's 5 And Michael's 432

by Douglas Zare
25 June 2003

Douglas Zare

Closeouts are a vital and common part of backgammon. While they lead to the most gammonish situations, they are also a route to victory after your opponent has started to bear off, but you hit a shot

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Subject: Re: Robertie's 5 and Michael's 432

From: 1296

Date: 03 Jul 2003 03:02 EST

Appreciate the work that went into this article.

Gaps, spares location, potential hits, and recube availability all muddy the waters.

Was wondering if Zare triples (1/2 crossovers) using the two point as the center of [zone 0] would give a new more refined heuristic?

Subject: Re: Robertie's 5 and Michael's 432

From: Bill Robertie

Date: 14 Jul 2003 21:17 EST

My 'Rule of 5' was good 25 years ago based on hand rollouts conducted at that time. For more up-to-date thinking, see the relevant section in '501 Essential BG Problems'. In general, the doubler will be doubling when he's within 4 checkers, although if his board is very fast, he may be able to double when he's within 5, and if he's slow or awkward, he may have to wait until he's within 3. All this advice assumes that White is flush on his ace-point and still on the bar.

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