i love your site. I am playing my first game, and am just finding my way around,,,I cant figure out how to delete the chat that accumulates....where do I go to do this....

I have just discovered a wonderful mac friendly backgammon game, which offers (at last) a lot of features found in jellyfish and snowie. Great database options as well, and the ability to download games from certain sites to analyse...the link for anyone interested is
http://www.bgblitz.com/index.html
you can download and use the demo or pay the more than reasonable shareware fee.

LOL.. I think there is a lot to learn to using the cube. it adds a whole new dimension and strategy to the game... I believe I read somewhere that adding it to this site is on Fencer's todo list...

I think I have a lot to learn about this cube!! LOL!! Thanks, its a lot clearer than it was!

yes if you were to refuse the cube .. the person offering wins that game for 1-point .. or the value of the cube at that time before the offer... and then a new game starts until one player has reached the point-value of the match...

So if the person DOESN'T take the cube they drop a point? Is that like a forfeit?

The paradox is that, if both players know their doubling cube strategy, doubles are accepted more often than not. It's easiest to explain why in the context of a money game; there are additional considerations in a tournament match that we can discuss later.

When playing strictly for money, each game stands on its own. The players agree in advance how much money they will wager on each point. Say they play for $2 a point. Then a simple game is worth $2 to the winner. A gammon is worth $4, as is a doubled game. A doubled gammon is worth $8, and so on. (This can get expensive!)

OK now, suppose we are playing for $2 a point. After a while you think your position is so good that you have a 70% chance of winning the game (nothing in backgammon is certain!). You properly turn the cube to 2 and offer it to me.

Now, here is what I am thinking. "If I drop the cube right now, I will lose 1 point, or $2. Dropping will cost me $2, so dropping is worth minus $2 to me. On the other hand, if I take the cube, I will have a 70% chance of losing $4. However, I will also have a 30% chance of winning $4! The value to me of accepting the cube is therefore 0.70 x (-$4) + 0.30 x (+4) = -$2.80 + $1.20 = -$1.60. Since minus $1.60 is better than minus $2, I should take the cube even though I only have a 30% chance of winning!"

Now, you might ask how the game can have a value of minus $1.60, when I know for sure I will either win $4 or lose $4. Think of the minus $1.60 as the average result that you would obtain if you played many games against this same opponent and always accepted the cube when it was offered to you when the winning odds are 70-30. If you encountered this situation 100 times, you would expect to win about 30 times and lose about 70. Your net loss would be ($120 - $280) or $160. A loss of $160 over 100 games works out to $1.60 per game.

Note that if you dropped the cube every time, you would lose $200 or $2.00 per game.

Of course, if you and your opponent are evenly matched you should also encounter the reverse situation 100 times, where you get ahead, double at 70-30 and he accepts.

sometimes it's a big risk.. other times the person offering may not have quite the advantage he thinks he does.... as you know.. strange things happen in backgammon...

It sounds strange though, if one player is winning, and offers the cube, why should the other person accept? They lose 2 points if they lose the game, and if they're already losing it would be a big risk.

At the start of the game, the doubling cube belongs to neither player, and either can make the first double. Physically, the cube is usually placed on the side of the board, midway between the two players, with the "64" facing up.

Doubling strategy, I might add, is probably the most difficult part of the game.

Ah, I see, so the point that the dice doubles belongs to the outcome of one game? Like in a 5 point match, or 11 point match. I see now, thanks for taking the time to explain, I appreciate it! How do you decide who starts with the cube? Is it the person who wins the first throw?

As long as a match consists of a single game, there is no reason to use a doubling cube. What you may be overlooking is that it is rare in real life to play backgammon for just one point. In tournaments, matches are played for a set number of points, which can be any number from 2 to 25 or even more. So, if you are playing an 11 point match, the first player to score 11 points wins the match. Each game starts with a value of 1 point, and the simplest case is that the winner of the game gets 1 point. A gammon is worth 2 points, however, and a backgammon is worth 3. Finally, if the game has been doubled one or more times, the winner's points are multiplied by the current "value of the cube", i.e., 2 if it has been doubled once, 4 if twice, etc. It's quite possible to play an 11 point match in 1 game in this way; alternatively, an 11 point match could last as many as 21 games!

if i accepted the cube that would make the game worth 2 points.. a gammon would be 4 points.. ... but then control of the doubling cube would revert back to me... if later on i thought i had a lead in the game i could offer the cube back to you and if you accepted the game would be worth 4 points..... gammon would be 2x the cube or 8 points.. etc.. etc...

So what happens exactly? If I gave you a doubling cube when I was ahead... how would that get me more points?! LOL, I'm just not following, sorry!! Give it me in baby talk!!!

say you have a 5-pt match or more... you use the doubling cube when you have an advantage in the game to increase the stakes of that particular game for points.. has nothing to do with money... not here anyway... lol

:o( I'm sorry but that makes no sense to me!
This doubling cube, it sounds like you would only use it when betting on a game? What actual use does it have in the game? I've never used one or heard of it so excuse my ignorance!

A doubling cube is an object used to record the current value of a game that has been doubled one or more times. It's shaped like a die and has the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 on its six faces. A player who wishes to double the value of the game picks up the doubling cube before he rolls his dice, and offers it to his opponent with the side labelled 2 facing up. If the opponent accepts the double, he "owns" the cube and places it on his side of the board. The owner of the cube can choose to double at any later time when it is his turn, before he rolls the dice. He would offer it to his opponent with the "4" facing up. The original doubler then owns the cube, and can double again on his turn, and so on.

Here is an explanation of the doubling cube and of gammon and backgammon from Backgammon Galore!

I forgot to mention in an earlier post that multipoint matches would require the system to recognize gammon and backgammon as well.


Doubling
Backgammon is played for an agreed stake per point. Each game starts at one point. During the course of the game, a player who feels he has a sufficient advantage may propose doubling the stakes. He may do this only at the start of his own turn and before he has rolled the dice.
A player who is offered a double may refuse, in which case he concedes the game and pays one point. Otherwise, he must accept the double and play on for the new higher stakes. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the cube and only he may make the next double.

Subsequent doubles in the same game are called redoubles. If a player refuses a redouble, he must pay the number of points that were at stake prior to the redouble. Otherwise, he becomes the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous stakes. There is no limit to the number of redoubles in a game.



Gammons and Backgammons
At the end of the game, if the losing player has borne off at least one checker, he loses only the value showing on the doubling cube (one point, if there have been no doubles). However, if the loser has not borne off any of his checkers, he is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling cube. Or, worse, if the loser has not borne off any of his checkers and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, he is backgammoned and loses three times the value of the doubling cube.

What is Double Cubing in Backgammon?

And, of course, multi-game matches to go with it -- preferably with an option to select how many points to a match.

does anyone know if the site has or is going to add a doubling cube to the games???
thanx for any help.....
jani...

Its all in the prime I think, all those checkers, its easy to make a nice big prime and lock the opponent in, a checker or 2 left on the bar, and the shots are usually there as they find themselves stacking up in their home board.
I guess I play it a little like race as well, but then I tend to treat my race games like regular backgammon really.
Of course at present most opponents are feeling their way and dont seem to be playing with much strategy ...(yet)...:-)

I want to apology to all those that i just recently timed-out on... I just returned from vacation and thought I could save the 2 days I had over-scheduled... in doing so I timed put in 16 games.... had I made my moves first before changing the scheduled vacation days... it would not have happened.... so to all those involved.. I am deeply sorry ... and look forward to other matches with you all soon... ----- Sharon----

I want to apology to all those that i just recently timed-out on... I just returned from vacation and thought I could save the 2 days I had over-scheduled... in doing so I timed put in 16 games.... had I made my moves first before changing the scheduled vacation days... it would not have happened.... so to all those involved.. I am deeply sorry ... and look forward to other matches with you all soon... ----- Sharon----

BIG BAD WOLF's stategy so far:

Well when I first started playing this, I played it like I do my Backgammon Race games (which I'm pretty good at) - which is try to keep a few checkers in the bar to try and mess up the other person.... but this did not work!

So my new stategy is to try to play it more like backgammon - that is get the checkers off my bar more quickly. Not sure how well this will work, but I'm at least started to win more games now.... :-)

The Dream Team is primarily a fellowship for the backgammon variants. We have a strong team already and are open to all bg players who are looking to play with some really nice people.
We have weekly fellowship tournaments happening. Just pop on over or send me a message and I will invite. The only players unwelcome at The Dream Team are those who practise bad sportsmanship!

Anyone had any thought about how CBG strategy differs from regular BG? My early thoughts -- having only started a number of games -- are that there is a great advantage in seizing 3 or more points in both your own home board and your opponent's as early as possible. It can be very constricting to still have 3 or 4 checkers on the bar while your opponent holds 3 or more points in his home. While in BG it can be a disadvantage to make your own 1 or 2 point early in the game, the extra checkers available in CBG may make that less of a consideration.

More so even than in regular BG, the emphasis is on position. I have been slotting strategic points -- especially the 5 and 7 points on both sides -- more aggressively.

I have yet to fully understand the implications of being able to build a prime and still have 8 checkers left over. I will probably learn more about that as the games I am playing progress. A related point I will be watching closely is whether it makes sense to play a massive backgame, with 6 or 8 checkers (or even more) deep in the opponent's board. Timing will need to be relearned from scratch, I think, in light of the additional pipcount available.

I moved the message I posted here a few minutes ago to the Crowded Backgammon discussion board -- I didn't realize there was one!

Hello everyone! I'm new to the site and just wanted to say howdy. I make multiple moves a day and love playing the games. Anyone wanting to play backgammon let me know and I would be happy to play you. I like making new friends. Carol

I will add medium size ASAP.

i didn't know that because it shows up on my games won.....no problem.....thanks for filling me in on the way it works...:)

Your game with Athesa was not rated because it was deleted with fewer than 4 moves.

hey...i've finished 4 games of crowded gammon...why no rating....at first i figured there wasn't enough players to start a ratings page yet but now i see other people are already rated....why not me....???

Go to settings then backgammon. There is only small and large, no medium.

sorry , I have been trying for a long time... I don't believe there is. I know it is hard to get used to..

Go to my profile to the left column... you should be able to change it there.

In my last game with clusam, I won the game and thanked him and then it showed that he won the game and he thanked me....confusing..

I wonder if it's possible to have the game board a medium size!!!

If your opponents' ratings are much below yours it will not change your rating, because actually applying the formula will cause your rating to go down. If your opponent's rating was not a lot below yours it should have gone up.

If you click on "My profile" on the left (or top, if you're using row layout) and click the blue (edit) beside "My Profile". There are option buttons there that allow you to select the appropriate selection :-)

how do you change your gender Im a female I overlooked it when I signed in

1 day moves, Nackgammon, Games start on the 7th...come along and have some Nack fun!

when a players piece is hit in their own home quarter it would add anywhere from 25 to 19 pips to their score...depending on which space it was on when it was hit....if it's hit on their opponets home quarter it would only add 1 to 6 points to their score....i wish i could explain better...maybe after another coffee i'll think a little clearer and be able to explain better..lol

will do, invites on the way:-)

okay, thx. Fencer.

If you are looking for a new opponent for
Backgammon, please send me an invite.

Later. Working on 10 features at the same time [including this one].

is there any way to lighten the background? i can hardly see the black tiles, and the dice are hard to see. thx. for fixing the direction of the boards.

Each man on the bar should add 25 to the pip count.

And what is the correct value for a man on the bar?

I would like to know how I should count the points correctly, can you help me? :-)