roadkillbooks versus kitwoolsey

So it happened.  I enrolled in David's Fall 2009 FIBS tournament with the intention to win some cash and if that couldn't happen.. to play against one of my favorite bg players, Kit Woolsey. Well I didnt make it to the money.. but I did get to play Kit.  I played carefully and took my time.  As usual when kit starts playing on FIBS.. a bunch of people started to watch the game.  Here Im posting it so all can enjoy and suffer the way I did.. I mean you were rooting for me right?


match link

Interesting Double Dillema

Here is an interesting situation that can often arise when beginners play in tournaments.
To understand this imagine as if your tournament life is on the line and you are up against a Giant of Backgammon. Why of course its only a 7 point match and if luck is on your side than hey...you could have a story to tell your grandkids (not another granpa bg story)
The question is.. what is the cube action here?



is mid 1700's FIBS player

score: 0
pip: 102
7 point match
pip: 47
score: 2

is Backgammon Giant XGID=-ECbCBA-A----a--a--bb-cbb-:1:-1:-1:00:2:0:0:7:10 on roll, cube action?
I'll leave this up before
I comment on it and reveal what I would have done.

For money this is a clear BEAVER. Black has a 52% chance of wining with about 9.5% gammon. White has the other 48% with about 4.5% gammon. For match play. This situation comes down to the match equity tables. Using the ExtremeGammon MET and rolling it out over 5000 times.. the result is NO DOUBLE/TAKE Black wins 50.5% with 12% gammons White wins 49.5% with 4.63% gammons Redoubling is shown as a -.069 error All of this however assumes opponents of equal ability. If we know that the player on roll is considerably worse (150-200 Elo points) than the Giant with the blots exposed, the situation changes considerably. Gone is the 23.6% from going down 4-0 and there is no 50% at 2-2... If we take the FIBS rating conservaively and apply the Trice/Jacobs MET tables for a rating difference of 100 points: Black will be 18.3% down 4-0, and 43.9% tied 2-2. This means that it favors black to play a few games as possible and here is a perfect opportunity. By doubling black with either be down 6-0 or up 4-2.. of course if black pulls off the gammon win he'll win it all. Whites reredouble will be a very slim window as black can take down to 7.7%. At -100 Elo points Blacks double is only a -.02 error.. Im not going to manually extrapolate the rest now but there is a 5% swing here for 100 points.. at 150 it will be correct to double. The paradox is that the worse player will not know any of this.... unless that player is you or me and we have a grasp.... but what if knowing this only makes us -100 to the Giant?...

Backgammon with Sea Lions

On our trip to Mar del Plata, Argentina.. I got to relax and try my luck rolling the dice with the local sea lions. The port dogs are the real husslers. If you roll well the sea lions have the tendency to snarl and spray sneeze all over you. The stakes were fish per point.

Hello Again

Well it seems that I also want to start a blog or a website or whatever.  Well I dont even remeber the names of some of my lost blogs and the website.. well its too much work.  Ill probably send some stuff there that I cant figure out to put on blogger.  Here I want to add positions.. photos updates... I ll even put up reference positions because then I can remember them myself. I will even advertise the fact that I give backgammon lessons.  You must inquire on the price though as it varies on the country that Im living in at the time.  Enjoy.