Nice explanation 😊

I enjoy watching what you share. But if you can remember to hold your phone horizontally you will get a wide video.

I have a new FM Gammon board coming in that 25 percent off discount is huge

Don’t let them burn the place down, Candace… 🔥 MARTY IS COMING! I miss him from our UK club…

Happy birthday, Patrick! Thanks for all yr contributions to our sport and for being so helpful to me early on 20 yrs ago! 🫶 🎲🎲 🎂 Becca T

17:58 How do you change to a position page (so faster) and then return to the analyzed match?

OMG.. I like this guy.

Hey Alex, great video! On the topic of analysis depth: How much deviation in terms of milipoints would you expect between 4ply, ++ and Rollout? Is there a big difference on average?

I am really looking forward to this tournament. Avi and his team have worked so hard to make it a world-class event that will be on every backgammon player's must-attend calendar!

This video was brilliant, from the thinking out loud of these legendary players to the format, very well done!

I regret that I cannot go... Avi has been really nice to me at past events and I would love to support this tournament... but having just moved, I can't swing it. Ugh.

Future champ

Little guy giving his all even though he can't reach it's alot better then him spending all day in front of a tv

17:46 which are respective crossovers?? The bot i understand that are the pips in 8 and 9 but the Paul's crossovers??

Wow congratulations to Avi for putting this tournament gala together! Seems like it's more than a regular ABT tournament.

Good that he is applying creative energy to the tournament, but out of curiosity, how will a beautiful table be seen when it is being streamed, since only the board will be shown on the camera?

Thanks, Kit and Art for sharing your knowledge and experience.

In addition to being fun to watch, there is so much to be learned here. I will surely watch this episode 2 or more times. Alex, this series you do is absolutely fantastic.

Interesting video - lots of homework to do!!! Just curious - why did you chose 54? Would the same principles apply to other rolls where you have a similar choice - or will that be for the next video! 🙂

Thanks Alex. Interesting content as always.

This one is awesome, Kit & Art, cheers Thank you.

What is the size of the set ?

Exceptional video today

Hit the clock Mehdi…

Fascinating Alex. Thank you.

6:13 What boards are that Kara was talking?

Great video, Alex.

I'm going to try and get there. My family is putting funds together for me for Christmas to make it. I'll be entering the Open. I decided to enter the open because if I enter the Intermediate I will be playing with people at my own skill level and I won't learn anything. Playing in the open gives me a chance to learn more. Even if I get knocked out early. My goal is just to make it past round one and your tips are helping me to possibly meet my goal. I hope to meet you there. I'll have a cane and a grey civil war style beard. I'm a old factory worker with Ledderhose Disease. I'm gonna stick out like a sore thumb. 😂

I like taking down two from the mid point on that one. 13/8 13/9 I know that's probably way off but I find myself doing it anyways

where to downlad?

In the segment beginning at 9:22 you modified the position to take away Red's 11 anti-joker, then White's equity if Red takes went from 0.88 to 1.07. It's very hard for me to believe that White is making almost 20 more cents on the dollar, or almost 21% more money if both players play from this position hundreds of times, just because Red benefits less from a rare roll that only happens 1/36 times (but it's still a good roll for him)! Makes me wonder how I'm ever going to master cube action when it's THIS prone to minor disturbances.

My biggest blunders are taking cubes when I am getting primed.

36:32 Nice analysis with the dice distribution of the 62 from the bar amd good discussion about how bad it is for red if white makes the bar. Some thoughts that might help maybe newer players grasp the position a bit. (Or maybe confuse them further). Red is behind in the race with more checkers back and an anchor established after surviving the blitz. Generally the game plan now is priming and contact. Bar/23 is forced and then the options are 13/7* and 8/2. Looking into upsides and downsides. In general, the downside of getting hit is reduced, since red already has more checkers back and is far behind in the race but with an anchor established. Getting an extra checker hit could lead to establishing a second anchor, so getting hit is really not that bad. With so many checkers back, efficicent checker utilization is important in the front position. Even though red is outboarded, there are many factors speaking in favour of the bold play 13/7* After 13/7* there is a downside of getting hit, but if missed, the checker is a huge asset and red can develop his prime. After 8/2, if missed, the checker is a liability, so that play has the downside that it can get hit or not hit. The downside of breaking the midpoint is of course something to consider, but making the barpoint later is a very good use for those checkers.

47:58 Nice analysis of the 44, but I think that there might be more to add, that can also help finding the play over the board. Of course 66 is a huge swing roll, but in general in bar point holding games, sixes can be awkward before the midpoint is cleared. This is something to look for and not only 66, but also 61 can get awkward in some situation, here it would still play, but after leaving the 18-point, 61 would play a lot better. Looking at this specific position, after 44, red is 1 pip ahead in the race, which effectively means white is ⅜ of a roll behind in the race. If you look at the whole board, you see that red has a stronger board and white only has a 1 point board with a blot and a huge stack on the 6-point, so maintaining contact favour red, since white's play can get awkward. Also, playing a one man back game, you usually have to rely mostly on racing equity and red is at a slight disadvantage in the race. Staying on the 18-point, red has one anchor holding 3 point, effectively 36 pips holding 16+18+26=60 pips and the goalkeeper making it awkward to play past the anchor. 1 pip ahead after the roll, but with 36 pips holding 60 means you have a decent holding advantage and the goalkeeper is not a liability yet Also, having the contact 6 away is the strongest contact and the hardest to clear, with only 2 points a landing spots, only 45 plus 5 doubles will clear the midpoint safely after it gets stripped. All of the indicated that you should stay on the 18, so then you look at your side of the board and see how you can improve it. 13/5 is clear to strengthen the board and then you have some different options for the other half of the roll that are pretty close.

18:42 22 it's not a return shot no?

With which software did you create the thumbnail of this video?

It was great to see this interview with Marco. He has done as much, if not more, than anyone to promote the game in Europe over the last 30 years.. I met him when he organized a tournament in Marbella in 2000. He is not only a class act, but he deserves to be in the Hall of fame.

I do have a idea if possible what if you took XG and played a game then with the same dice rolls play against BG Blitz or GNU Backgammon. I'm just curious to see if they would both suggest the same moves. It would be time consuming but still interesting 🤔

Can you share the contact information of your guest?

1:10:15 "The Max rule says that early cubes are always Takes" is false. If Black hadn't entered with a blot on the 5, and still had 2 on the bar, then it would be a Pass. Quite bizarre of Marc to come up with and reinforce such an easily disproven rule.

Another download for me thank you Alex. Also I was wondering if you could do a video on when to cube and when to pass that's my biggest hurdle

Great video; you are quite an analyst and I have also enjoyed your backgame book. Thank you for all your hard work Alex.

I don't understand when you say that in a 4 point board are 16 numbers of dance 😢. Which are?

Liebe Backgammon. Grüße aus Berlin Zehlendorf