Backgammon Learning

Learning

Three steps to better play

From:   David Montgomery
Address:   monty@cs.umd.edu
Date:   6 July 1998
Subject:   Re: 1680--What's next?
Forum:   rec.games.backgammon
Google:   6npjc6$jfp@krackle.cs.umd.edu

ESIMON writes: > I have a 1680 rating on FIBS. Play JellyFish very often. It's been a > great teacher. Read the usual books although found them less useful > than JellyFish. What's the next logical step to become a better player? > What for instance, does a play[er] with an 1780 rating do better? A player with a 1780 rating makes fewer and smaller mistakes. Here's how you get better: 1) Identify your mistakes 2) Understand your mistakes 3) Quit making those mistakes Repeat as necessary. ------- 1) Identify your mistakes You don't mention if you have JF tutor or player. If you don't have the tutor, get it. Play games against JF. I prefer to play a game with comments turned off, logging it to a file, and then review the game with comments turned on. Print out your large errors. Play matches on FIBS. Log the matches to a file and convert the file to a JF .mat file. (Go to fibs.com for more info on logging a fibs match appropriate to your software.) Review the match with JF. Print out your large errors. "Large" depends on your level of play, and how much time you have to study. At 1680, I think you could start out by just printing out positions where JF says you make a .10 mistake -- my guess is that in short order you would have a large stack of positions. ------- 2) Understand your mistakes Now study these positions. Use your printouts like flashcards. Cover up the JF evaluations and decide on your play. Check against JF. Go over and over your mistakes until you wouldn't make them anymore. Try to understand why your move is wrong, and JF's is better. Try to think of how you would need to see the position differently, in order to make the right play. Try to figure out what concepts you are overvaluing, and what concepts you are undervaluing. JF is great at identifying where we are making big mistakes, but not at telling us what the concepts are that we need to get plays right. For the concepts, you need human help. You mention that you have read the "usual" books. I'm not sure what these are, but here is what I think you should read to get the concepts that stronger players use. First: Paul Magriel's _Backgammon_ Kit Woolsey's _Matchqiz_ annotated matches. There are a few books available, but better is to get the software from Hal Heinrich, and buy the most recent year or two of annotated matches. I think for someone at your strength the above texts are the best things to read (and reread (and reread)) to become grounded in the concepts you need to play at a higher level. Note that you read these to understand how to think about the game -- not to learn the particular play recommendations made. Many of Paul and Kit's suggestions in these texts are wrong, but that isn't important. They show you how you should be thinking about backgammon. If you get through the above and want to read more, all of the following are very good and each will add some concepts to your repertoire: Kit Woolsey and Hal Heinrich's _New Ideas in Backgammon_ Bill Robertie's _Advanced Backgammon_, _Reno 1986_, and _Lee Genud vs Joe Dwek_ Roy Friedman's _World Class Backgammon Move by Move_ Ortega et al.'s _Costa Rica 1993_, _Cost Rica 1994_, and _Cube's and Gammons Near the End of the Match_. The last three, by Ortega and his co-authors, are the best texts for getting into match strategy. Beyond this, if you have problems understanding and correcting your errors, you may want to get lessons. Having someone to whom you can present your mistakes, whom you can ask questions and who can ask you questions, can be the most valuable thing. A number of players give lessons online. ------- 3) Quit making those mistakes We're all trying! David Montgomery monty@cs.umd.edu monty on FIBS

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