Wastage obviously means numbers on your dice rolls that do not help you progress forward in the pip count. These usually slow you down in the race thus you should adjust your pip count according to how much momentum you lose due to wastage. You normally have wastage if you cross over, have gaps in your checker position, and have high stacks of checkers. We'll go over what a cross over is first and then move on with the rest of the sources of wastage in backgammon.
The backgammon board is technically divided into four quadrants. Once you jump a backgammon checker from one quadrant to the next this is called a cross over. A cross over is not much of an adjustment in the pip count but it is a source of wastage in backgammon. One big source of wastage for your pip count are gaps on your checker position. The pip count is a measurement showing the total number of pips required for a player to bear off all checkers from the current position.
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Readers who are familiar with the intricacies of pip counting would gain little from this tutorial. It is aimed to be a primer and a guide for beginners to progressively incorporate pip counting into their play.
However, in Chapter 10 the author provides a timely reminder that "Backgammon is essentially a race Determining your position in this race is achieved by calculating the difference between the number of pips units of distance or spaces on the board your men travel that you need to get all your checkers home and off the board, and the number our opponent needs.
The result is the pip count and is calculated through the technique known as pip counting. At the start of any game the arrangement of the checkers is such that each player will need to move pips to complete their bear off.
This number will decrease as the players move checkers around the board, or may increase when their checkers are hit and sent to the bar. At the start of the game each player has a pip count of , hence the difference between the sums is zero.
Here is the starting position: Games start with a pip count of to Therefore the pip count informs us that Red is 2 pips behind in the race. Red's pip count is White's pip count is Why Count Pips? For the past 18 months, my backgammon games have been primarily played against various software programs or human adversaries via the Internet. When playing against programs like JellyFish, or on the Internet, a player usually has the luxury of determining the pip count by a swift click of the mouse.
The pips for each player may be permanently displayed or the relative difference in pips the pip count may be easily at hand. Venture into the real world of face-to-face play and such information technology is not available to assist in our game. On many such occasions, I found my inability to count pips a serious handicap. I quickly realized that a mastery of pip counting would enable my further progress along the backgammon learning curve.
The backgammon literature informs us that an ability to swiftly count pips confers the master with a powerful advantage over the uninitiated in many common situations. The pip count is an essential factor in many cube decisions and can aid in determining the appropriate choice of strategy in mid-game holding positions. For example, Magriel provides a guideline for offering or accepting the cube in a racing situation.
In a long race about pips a player should be a minimum of 10 pips in the lead to offer a double, or a maximum of 13 pips behind to accept a double Magriel , at page Other experts such as Jack Kissane have publicized other effective techniques such as the application of "reference positions". The Kissane methods are set out in detail at Backgammon Galore. The article there was originally published in the Chicago Point , Issue 52, November Concepts from one method may be applicable to the others.
To decide which method is most suited to your personal style of mental processing, check out the references provided and give each a try. A short cut, and technique, which I found to be very effective, is explained in detail below. I first came across the concept on the news group archives section of the Backgammon Galore web site.
It was originally posted on the newsgroup by Mark Denihan, 7 October The site also lists many other articles which may be of interest. In essence, it requires only four simple skills: A fluency in the basic multiplication tables for the numbers from 1 to 5 and more extensive familiarity with the multiplication tables for the number 6 for example multiples of 6 up to the multiplier of 25 ; Basic addition and subtraction skills; The ability to visualize moving a checker six points; The ability to remember a single two or three-figure number while undertaking the previous tasks.
However, this method has an added advantage for a beginner.
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