Non-believers ask why I spend such a high percentage of my precious free time studying backgammon problems.  “It’s just a game with dice, right?”  The implication, of course, is that any game with dice must be determined predominately by luck, with skill coming in a distant second.  I’ve heard this tired trope so many times that I can barely stand to respond anymore, save for a shrug of the shoulders, and a mumbled reply something along the lines of “Would you like to play an 11-pointer for money?”  To the non-fanatic, a game that is so easy to learn cannot possibly go any deeper than racing your checkers around the board and hoping you roll more double sixes than your opponent.

Allow me then the oppportunity to disabuse any beginners out there of this silly notion.  It turns out that upon closer examination, backgammon is in fact one of the more complex pursuits out there.  And this, in my opinion, is what makes it so beautiful.  The more you study, the more you realize how much more there is to learn.  Far from being frustrated by this discovery, I was inspired to play and study as much as my time allowed, so that I could find out how much more I didn’t know about this “simple” game.

So how does one well-versed in the intricacies of backgammon respond to said non-believer other than challenging them to a longish match or a solid right cross to the temple?  Well, there are a number of things you could bring up that point to the incredible complexity of this great game.

Ever rolled double ones during the middle game and played them absolutely “perfectly” according to the bots?  It turns out that rolling doubles is a kind of double-edged sword, enabling you to gain an advantage racing-wise, but also offering up an opportunity to blunder horribly.  Beginners tend to move most quickly when rolling doubles, perhaps energized by what they perceive to be a great roll.  But this is precisely the time when they should take the most time in moving their checkers, because the odds of them making a very bad move are highest.

And what about that large cube in the middle of the board?  The advent of the doubling cube changed the entire nature of backgammon, adding a level of complexity unknown to previous generations.  Now, if one wishes to engage in match play, there are all kinds of things to consider before rolling the dice.  The position, the match score, the skill level of your opponent, even his/her mood all suddenly become relevant factors in your thinking.  Cube action alone could become one’s life work.

Endgame bearoffs, when not played correctly (even wrong by tenths of a percentage point) can lead to huge changes in equity and turn a potential gammonish position into a losing one.  If your opponent has timed a backgame well enough, you have to know when to clear the rear checkers and when to leave spares, or else be in mortal danger.  And of course, by this time it’s likely you’ve turned the cube already, so you could be in the awkward position of having the cube whipped right back in your face – I’ve been there, it’s not pleasant.

All of which is certainly not meant to discourage the beginner – quite the contrary.  I emphasize backgammon’s complexity in order to offer you a challenge to play and study , study and play, so that you can find out for yourself how wonderfully convoluted this game can be.  All humans crave escape at some point.  Haven’t you ever wanted to get so lost that finding your way back seemed beside the point?  Get lost in backgammon, and start playing/studying now.  And to all those chess and Go players who scoff at the idea of backgammon being anything other than a luckfest, I invite you to visit the OCBA every third Thursday of the month and find out for yourself!