Yesterday I met an anesthesiologist who brought up the topic of backgammon at a deposition. I mentioned to him that, many years ago, a friend tried to teach me how to play backgammon. At first, I thought it was essentially a game of chance. When the friend and I first began playing, we each won about half the time.
That was before I read a book about basic backgammon strategy. A couple of hours of reading changed my stats dramatically. I started winning 4 out of 5 games against that same friend, simply by using about a dozen basic tips.
Yesterday, the anesthesiologist lit up as we discussed backgammon. He has spent considerable time (much more than I have) learning higher level strategies.
“If you want to really improve your game,” he said, “there is a free shareware version of backgammon that will trounce you. It plays world class backgammon.”
It’s called GNU backgammon and you can download it right here [1]. Here’s what the About page [2] says about GNU backgammon:
GNU Backgammon (gnubg) is for playing and analysing backgammon positions, games and matches. It’s based on a neural network. In the past twelve months it has made enormous progress. It currently plays at about the level of a championship flight tournament player.
The software is loaded with features and options, including numerous ways to analyze an ongoing game. It is a great learning tool, also thanks to the “hints” function. If you want a further tutorial on using GNU backgammon, check out this page from the Backgammon International Group. [3]
I downloaded it tonight and promptly got trounced. I’m sharing this link with anyone else who wants to get trounced. Maybe we can all form a masochist’s club. Truly, good luck. You’ll need it.
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