Plays that Look Really Cool!

by Mary Hickey
4 February 2009

Mary Hickey

I remember Kent Goulding ("KG" to the cognoscenti) saying many years ago that he believed a large proportion of backgammon errors are made because players don't see all the options. It's true that if you don't see a play you won't make it, right or wrong, and so will miss opportunities for brilliance. On the other hand, if you don't see all the plays, you will also miss opportunities to make truly spectacular blunders!

The rest of this article (63.43 K) is premium content. Please subscribe below.

GammonVillage Subscriptions:

You must be signed in to rate articles.

Feedback about this article:

Subject: Re: Plays that Look Really Cool!

From: thephoenix

Date: 10 Feb 2009 20:43 EST

File this under the heading "Articles That Are Really Cool". Great stuff. I'm sure these positions come up constantly and are misplayed all the time (certainly by me)! Thanks for the great article and the interesting positions.

BTW, great analogy with the boiling frog.

Subject: Re: Plays that Look Really Cool!

From: jk_ace

Date: 11 Feb 2009 12:08 EST

Hi Mary,

I learned the finer points of the game from KG down at the old Dupont Curcle Club in DC in the late 70s and early 80s. KG was the one who dubbed these types of plays banana splits since, as he would say in his best Groucho imitation, "You've gotta be bananas to make this split".

John

You must be signed in to post comments.