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Cube Action, Bluffing and Woolsey's Law

By Phil Simborg

This position came up in one of my matches in a major backgammon tournament recently.

It is a match to 9, the score is 2-2, and Black holds a 2-cube and is on roll. What is the proper cube action?

According to the computers this is not a double. The reasoning is clear…Black does not always hit, and when he doesn’t hit he could easily lose a gammon and the match. Also, even if he hits he doesn’t always win.

So the “correct” action would be no double, and if black doubled, white should take.

When I was playing the match, however, my opponent had just rolled a 6-1 to leave me the shot, and he was extremely upset and disgusted…as if he had lost the match because of that roll. Seeing how much he felt the roll was terrible, I sensed that he might drop the cube, so I doubled, and he dropped immediately.

Position Analysis Lessons:

First, don’t show emotion or give away what you are thinking to your opponents.
Second, if you see a weakness in your opponent, you should take advantage of it.

Woolsey’s Law

And third is a very important principle called Woolsey’s Law. Basically, the theory is that if you are not sure whether to double or not, you should double. You might be wrong to double, and you might be wrong if you don’t double, but the only way your opponent can make a mistake is if you double.