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Backgammon Bar Point Slotting Problems

by Walter Trice
15 May 2009

Walter Trice

Last month's column presented some checker play problems in which the main question was whether to slot the 18 point or the 7 point with a roll containing a six. In the 1970's, influenced by writers like Bruce Becker and Barclay Cooke, players tended to err more often by incorrectly slotting their own bar with 13/7. Today the more common error is to miss the positions in which a 13/7 slot is, in fact, preferable. The old school told us, especially in the opening, to "forget the race and play for position". This happens to be very good advice – sometimes! My revised version: "If you are losing the race, forget the race and play for position – even in the opening."

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Subject: Re: Backgammon Bar Point Slotting Problems

From: arthur stein

Date: 19 May 2009 22:13 EST

these problems are quite interesting is there some way that we can see the board at the same time youy are explainin even if the neard is smaller when one has to juimp from explanations click click a nd make and forth a lot is lost thanks se what you can do thAtnks art stein

Subject: Re: Backgammon Bar Point Slotting Problems

From: trice

Date: 22 May 2009 01:31 EST

One way to keep a diagram in view while reading the comments about the position is to open your web browser twice and look at two copies of the article. It takes a bit of fiddling to get the widths of the windows right so that you can scroll through the text and see full lines in one window while viewing a complete diagram in the other, but once that is done it works pretty smoothly.

Another way would be to print out the article.

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