Offensive vs. Defensive Backgammon Strategy

As you can see in Figure 1 below, black has a 3-1 to play.  What’s your play?

Many people make their 5 point with this play, but as you can see from the Snowie Analysis in Figure 2, it is very wrong to do this.  There are many books and articles written that will tell you that any time you can make the 5 point, it’s probably the best play, or at least not wrong by very much.  And this is true much of the time, but not in a situation where you are under great threat of being hit and primed by your opponent.

There is a saying I learned from Joe Sylvester, one of the all-time great players, and it’s something I have not seen in any book. It is a saying Joe says he uses in tough situations like this where he has a choice between making an offensive play (making your 5 point) or a defensive play (making a point in your opponent’s board to keep from getting pointed on or blitzed).

The saying is: “Offense/Offense, Defense/Defense.” What this means is that if you have the choice of making an offensive play or a defensive play, consider your position first. If you are in an offensive position, you should tend to make a more offensive play. If you are in a defensive position, tend to make the more defensive play.

has more checkers back, and if you have more checkers ready to attack, you are clearly in an offensive position and should hit or make points in your board. But if the above factors are in your opponent’s favor, as they are in the position shown, then you are in a defensive position and you should tend to make the more defensive play. This theory has helped me make the right decision thousands of times and has helped me win many backgammon games and matches.