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Phil Simborg is the author of many articles, including several published on GammonVillage. He describes himself as a pretty good player from Chicago who makes some real blunders...here are some of them.
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So You Think Backgammon is Easy?
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29 Jul 2008 - by Phil Simborg
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Here's a good example of how complex backgammon can be. There are two positions in this article where Black holds a 2-cube and is on roll. See if you can guess the proper cube action for both positions. Be prepared to be surprised.
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Rating:  2.47 |
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Simborg's Blunders: Hit or Not Revisited
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12 Jan 2007 - by Phil Simborg
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Phil Simborg presents a follow up to his recent hit or not backgammon problem.
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Rating:  4.75 |
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| First Published: |
12 Sep 2006 |
| Articles: |
5 |
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| Advanced Backgammon Tutorials
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More experienced backgammon players can learn from this series of advanced backgammon tutorials, written by the best backgammon authors in the field.
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The Backgammon Doubling Cube Made Simple
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03 Mar 2008 - by Phil Simborg
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What I consider one of the most irritating things in backgammon: You are rolling the dice and playing along and having a really nice time, and then all of a sudden your opponent does something extremely irritating and rude. He doubles you!
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| Rating: 4.55 |
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Playing for the Gammon: Separating the Women from the Girls!
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21 Jan 2008 - by Phil Simborg
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One of the many differences between a good backgammon player and a great player is knowing when to play on for the gammon and knowing when to turn the cube. Playing for the gammon also affects checker play.
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Rating:  3.67 |
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Alternative Rules to Make Backgammon Interesting
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21 Dec 2007 - by Phil Simborg
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I happen to believe that backgammon is a great game, just the way it is. From time to time, however, it is fun to change the game up a bit. Here are some "alternative ways to play that you not only will enjoy, but you will find them to be interesting learning exercises as well.
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Rating:  4.33 |
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| First Published: |
17 Dec 1999 |
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30 |
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Gregg Cattanach, one of the top players on the backgammon circuit in the USA, offers seven new problems per article and has invented a scoring system based on the equity difference in Snowie analysis.
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Gregg's Quiz #33
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05 Jan 2007 - by Gregg Cattanach
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Here are the next group of seven problems where the player didn't manage to come up with the best play. The rollout results disagree with the play made at the board. Try to work out the best play amongst all the possibilities.
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Rating:  5.00 |
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Gregg's Quiz #32
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20 Dec 2006 - by Gregg Cattanach
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Here are the next group of seven problems where the player didn't manage to come up with the best play. The rollout results disagree with the play made at the board. Try to work out the best play amongst all the possibilities.
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| Rating: 5.00 |
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Gregg's Quiz #31
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05 Dec 2006 - by Gregg Cattanach
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I've found seven backgammon problems where a good player (usually me) couldn't come up with the best play. The rollout results disagree with the play made at the board. Try to work out the best play amongst all the possibilities.
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| Rating: 5.00 |
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| First Published: |
5 Aug 2005 |
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33 |
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This is the Home of the Howlers from the boards of the best. All of these positions come from live play between strong players. They got them wrong, can you do better at home? No trick questions, so just choose the play that you would make in an important match against an equal opponent. Good Luck!
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The Village Quiz #85
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22 Apr 2005 - by Paul Money
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Here are seven positions that top players got wrong in live play. Set these up on a real backgammon board and give each a couple of minutes thought. Then choose your play and see how you score.
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| Rating: 4.91 |
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The Village Quiz #84
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22 Mar 2005 - by Paul Money
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Welcome to the Village Quiz. Not so much a contest, more a learning aid, where we take a look at some backgammon positions from live play that drew an error from an expert player in real life. Give it a try!
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| Rating: 4.50 |
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The Village Quiz #83
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08 Mar 2005 - by Paul Money
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Welcome Village Quiz fans! Here are seven more intriguing backgammon positions for you to sweat over.
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| Rating: 4.71 |
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| First Published: |
19 Apr 2002 |
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85 |
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Backgammon is a game of complete information. When it is our turn to make a play, with checker or cube, all the information that we need is already available to us. We can see every checker and the cube, we know the score and we can see the dice. If we haven't yet rolled, we do at least (I hope!) know the probabilities associated with dice rolls.
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Dorbel's Gazette - Issue 27
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08 Oct 2004 - by Paul Money
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The secret of learning is to start with an inquiring mind - when you see a position that puzzles you, record it and work on it later.
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| Rating: 5.00 |
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Dorbel's Gazette - Issue 26
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23 Sep 2004 - by Paul Money
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A letter has flooded in from our old friend Mrs. Trellis of Glamorgan, Wales who asks, "Why, oh why, oh why, are there not more cube questions?" And so, to titillate this loyal Dorbel follower, here are a nice bunch of blitzing cube positions.
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| Rating: 4.63 |
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Dorbel's Gazette - Issue 25
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08 Sep 2004 - by Paul Money
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When we reach the end of a tight match, perhaps in a final, suddenly and without practice, we are back in the nursery stages of backgammon again where the cube and gammons are irrelevant. Studying cubeless games can pay big dividends.
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| Rating: 4.80 |
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| First Published: |
24 Sep 2003 |
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27 |
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Read and learn from this collection of advanced backgammon strategy tutorials by some of the top backgammon players in the world.
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Strategic Choices - Gains And Drawbacks
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27 Jan 2001 - by Steve Sax
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In Steve Sax's fifth and final Strategic Choices article, we look at a midfield standoff where leaving a checker open has its pros and cons. Thank you Steve for all your contributions to our community website and the best of luck to you!
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| Rating: 3.82 |
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Strategic Choices - Calculated Risks For Large Benefits
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26 Jan 2001 - by Steve Sax
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In article 4, Steve Sax clarifies a position that one can easily play wrong. Overlooking the easy play to find opportunities involving small risks can often lead to big rewards in the form of more gammon and backgammon chances.
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| Rating: 4.33 |
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Strategic Choices - Snowie, Intuition And The Variables
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25 Jan 2001 - by Steve Sax
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Today Steve comments on a position in which Snowie disagrees with his play and enlightens us how to judge the bot's evaluation. While Snowie is often right, one should take a close look at variables such as race, timing, flexibility and others.
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| Rating: 4.42 |
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| First Published: |
10 Dec 2000 |
| Articles: |
7 |
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