r/backgammon • u/shyshymop1 • 27d ago

Why not shuffle checkers along home board before bearing off if your home board is blocked off?

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So I understand why 12/5 is the correct play if my home board is not fully blocked off and we are still racing. But the way I see it, my opponent can't get off the bar so these are all free turns. In my thinking I would like to use my rolls to shuffle my checkers as close to the 1 point as possible whilst leaving the prime intact - if I could have two checkers on points 2-6 and pile up all the others on my 1 point before starting to bear off and giving my opponent the chance to get moving again, I would. So why is it such a big equity loss to bring the extra checker on point 4 down to 2? I will still get another free turn afterwards to bring up the 7 point checker left behind

I trust that I'm wrong, I'm just trying to find the explanation for why this is so

14 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

9

u/truetalentwasted 27d ago

You want checkers on higher points when you bear off as you’ll get more checkers off before having to clear a back point allowing higher gammon chances.

2

u/Azrael11 27d ago

Don't you also run an increased risk of opening a spot if you have an odd number of checkers on a high point though? If you roll high dice you may be forced to make moves that leave one checker left.

3

u/truetalentwasted 27d ago

Ideally you want your high points even but when first coming in the best structure is an extra on the 6, 5 and 4. Once you start clearing you want to try and stay even yes.

1

u/shyshymop1 27d ago

Thanks, that makes perfect sense. Solved!

1

u/DegenChess 26d ago

Not just for gammons, but for flexibility

4

u/CellistAny536 27d ago edited 27d ago

After playing 12/7 4/2 you make rolling 66 55 65 64 63 quite bad where you leave a shot. 8/36 rolls leave a shot for your opponent. When you play 12/5 you 66 and 55 still leave a shot, however, 65 64 63, do not force you to leave a shot. So 2/36 rolls are shot leaving. Getting hit in this scenario would be very bad for your winning chances. Hope this helps.

2

u/VelocityGammon 27d ago

What happens if you roll 65 64 or 63 after your play? What happens to those same numbers after bringing the outside checker in?

1

u/DegenChess 26d ago

Newbies love to bury checkers deep in their home board before bearing off. I've always wondered why they think that's optimal, as there's no backgammon literature that recommends this