Backgammon Efficiency, explained by Grandmaster Marc Olsen

This video explains the concept of efficiency in backgammon.
Backgammongalaxy.com is the biggest and most respected backgammon server for online play.
Make sure to check out the rest of the playlist "Backgammon Basics"!
Make sure to check out Marc's books on Amazon:
- From Basics to badass.
- Pure Strategy.
- Cube Like a Boss.

[@tombomb00s]

You've converted me. I've been a big board gamer for years but all these new flashy games have nothing on the beauty and replayability of backgammon. Thanks for helping a newbie out!

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Thank you for charing this with us Thomas! We absolutely LOVE to hear from people that have discovered the beauty and FUN of backgammon! May the dice be with you

[@barbarjinx3802]

My dad taught me when I was little. My son is now starting to get into it at 11. It’s fun and quick once you recognize the patterns.

[@dabatronicsupersonic4895]

Top 10 backgammon vids of all time Marc

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Thank you :-D

[@chein33]

Keep them coming Marc, very much appreciated, Beautiful board.

[@EricPetersen2922]

Wonderful board. I’ve played on them. Super pleasurable to play on.

[@hapideejay]

where can i find to buy one of it?

[@nephilimrephaim3949]

This channel has been putting out great content lately

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Thanks for acknowledging :-)

[@dowaliby1]

So glad I found your channel, Marc. I have been a passionate backgammon player most of my life, but got away from it in the last 10-15 years. Now I'm coming back to it with a renewed fascination. I played in many tournaments and side action many years ago at the old bar and restaurant in San Francisco known as "Days." It was great place, and oftentimes we would go to the local private club nearby to continue the action after hours. Back then, a guy named Nick Maffeo was one of the best players at Days and the Club. I believe he became a top level champion at some point. Reading Paul Magriel's book, "Backgammon," was what helped take me to the next level and I started winning a lot based on the principles in the book. What you taught about in this video is related to what I believe Magriel called "Diversity" or diversifying checkers. Congratulations on all your success in this greatest of games..

[@chefwilllaw]

I just started getting into the game and of course I Google “best strategies” and tips etc. This gentleman telling me the “why” and the philosophy behind the strategies just opened my eyes wide.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

We're so happy that this was useful to you William :-D

[@dammazable]

Cool! Hope more videos of this "serie" will come, explaining all the concepts in backgammon. I saw two videos so far, and on the other one you were showing a different luxury board of yours; I guess the plan is (or at least I hope so!) that in every new video you are showing a different board; that would be awesome! I enjoyed a lot the video where you are showing all your luxury boards. I could kill for one of those! :D Actually.. I could buy one, and I would! If I was a decent player with a decent PR...

[@jjmckenna]

dosani - Your PR has nothing to do with enjoying a luxury tournament size backgammon board! I only got into the game seriously back in April (I’m an intermediate player), and I now have several tournament size boards! My favorite, along with Marc, is my VIP FMGammon board, made of Beech wood. Yes, it’s around $750, but it will last a lifetime! A video of me unboxing and reviewing my board is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHnae5x7Zpuehrc I’ll be doing a similar video of another FMGammon board, at about half the price, pretty soon. I really recommend investing in a nice board. It makes the game so fun to play! 🤘🏼🎲🎲✨

[@LCCVR1975]

I have one board like yours, with different colors, probably from the same provider here in Brazil. Now I just have to learn to play decently. Thanks for the video.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

You can do it! :) And yes, it is a Brazilian made Gamâo board.

[@thomasayres8440]

@@BackgammonGalaxy whats the brand?

[@thomasayres8440]

qual a marca?

[@diosrockbar4145]

loja do gamão do senhor Paulo Venâncio.

[@TheChessViking]

Thanks for the video. Have played on and off for a few years but mostly off. If I keep watching those quality videos it will definitely be ON again :-)

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Great to hear!

[@badbadger902]

Thankyou Marc, great to watch a Grandmaster show us how NOT to fall into those 2 traps of Stacking and Dead Checkers (something I would all too often fall into myself). I had played versus so many Blitz players it would give me a headache, until I learnt that those often risky elements of many open points, could very quickly be used against you into "building" both offensive and defensive primes.

[@finnhackapell6560]

I don't play much Backgammon but you seem to have potential to peak my interest, I hope you can stream more backgammon games online! Prove that backgammon is more than just a game of chance. Subscribed!

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

We're so happy to hear that Finn! Thanks for sharing :-D

[@greeneyeddevil1]

This is good series

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Glad you enjoy it!! There are many more videos to come... 1 or 2 pr week! So remember to subscribe!

[@sjsphotog]

great video Marc. a very important strategy to learn for beginners who seem to always play too safe and create stacks which gets them into trouble later when it really counts.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Absolutely!

[@LaurentPerche]

What a beautiful board.

[@SpiralBreeze]

These videos have been very helpful.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

It's our goal to help people become better players, so we're really happy that you find this helpful :-)

[@morebrokethaneven4788]

I've just learned the rules of the game, but now I feel like a got clarity on basics. Thank you

[@chufflangs]

Marc your channel is so awesome I have become a backgammon fan!!! Thank you!

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Welcome aboard!

[@inuktittussen2164]

So, talking about taking risks, when do you want to take them? Great video with examples

[@regularnimnule9715]

Excellent. REALLY informative and interesting. And that board is GORGEOUS!

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Spud, did you check out the "epic board collection video"? :)

[@regularnimnule9715]

@@BackgammonGalaxy Still wiping the drool off the floor after watching that :) :)

[@macleadg]

Great video, as always. I’d love a video on “Dealing with Bad Rolls”: situations where every move has a major drawback

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Good and bad rolls even out over time, this is the law of large numbers from statistics. So don't focus too much on luck, focus on making good plays.

[@clasnikh]

As a fan from turkey I really appreciate your vids, keep up the great work!!

[@carterdahl9654]

I didn't realize just how much about backgammon I understood without looking up anything. I guess the person who taught me really understood the game

[@wilfredv1930]

Thumbs up for you sir, great content. more videos like this would be awesome

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

We will release one pr week! :) So remember to subscribe and click the notification bell!

[@thelobsylife5174]

Damn, bjorn ironside is a great backgammon teacher

[@TheSHIEALI2007]

Really great. Thank you

[@pettyaf89]

That was so useful. Thank you

[@xenosschirmer4428]

Nice Video, Marc, thank you! And fantastic board in fact.

[@pleit0osrs314]

Awesome video,vey informative, thank you.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@cannonskier]

Great vid Marc. Thanks 🙏🏼

[@disbxjdjdbbxbsj1095]

What is the name of your board? It looks really good!

[@phieq]

I would really love to hear your view on doubling strategies

[@GrumblinDice]

Very instructional 🎲🎲🎲

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@jonsims5494]

very well explained.... thank you!

[@jackwalton8804]

Holy hell what a beautiful board 😍😍😍

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Then you should see the Earth Board

[@lukozi01]

Very helpful video! Thank you! Could someone please tell me what are the dimensions of this particular board?

[@mamadawn3171]

Help us! Can you “hit” your opponents checker when you come off the bar if they only have one checker on a point? Also, the rule about having to be able to use the highest dice first, does that apply when bearing off?

[@garbear6899]

Yes, you can hit from the bar if opponent only has 1 checker on the point. I'm not aware of this higher die first rule. Every version of backgammon I've ever played allows either die to be used first. Some situations even force the smaller die to be used first in order to be able to use both dice (because of no other valid moves). Always good to check with your opponent before the match starts to make sure you're playing the same rules!

[@stejoh_]

Is this the xxl board? Since the checkers are 50mm? Im thinking of buying the xxl one. 👍🤘

[@stephen227]

Highly enlightening.

[@sjsphotog]

Im "poor" and dont have unlimited funds so my "luxury" board is a snakeskin looking large tournament sized case that costs around $300-350 US dollars. The other 2 boards I have a re cheap for fun boards when I dont want to get my luxury board messed up and cwant to play in the park or other places where It may get ruined. One is a small size and the other is a mini travel sized one.

[@colleenwatch]

Hi Marc. I want to be a professional backgammon player. What do I need to do? Who can I speak to? Thx for your time!

[@Assassin1959]

Thanks for the video. I just started playing this game, and it is exciting. I want to recommend keeping your camera fixed and stop moving around. It's very distracting.

[@Nicole-rq8ix]

Hi I just joined Backgammon Galaxy and how do you double the game? I clicked on the 64 and didn't do anything ? Is there a message board place to ask questions.? thanks

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

There's a button that says "Double" opposite the "Roll" button. You can't double in 1-point matches.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

We recommend the Facebook group "Backgammon Strategy" for any strategy related questions and for more broad backgammon questions you can try the "Backgammon News" Facebook group. You can contact us directly on Facebook Messenger via our Backgammon Galaxy Facebook page. Thanks.

[@Nicole-rq8ix]

@@BackgammonGalaxy That was it, thanks! Didn't know you can't double in 1 point matches. is there a reason why?

[@Nicole-rq8ix]

@@BackgammonGalaxy Cool, thank you!

[@MrThePhotoshopper]

Why can I not purchase any TC? It just does nothing when I hit buy.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

You can either buy from Mindskillz cashier page, which you can access when you click "Get tournament coins" or buy them via paypal, get in touch with [e-mail].

[@tapperken1]

As a beginner i try to learn as good as possible. Important question: I see you start position not at your sofa site but at the opposite site..is that always so because we play : my start at sofa site..greetings from belgium

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Technically it doesn't make a difference, but it is very weird to see our own home board on the other side of the table :)

[@comradeski6683]

Purity and structure - this alone will help me greatly :)

[@weignerleigner3037]

You know what’s weird is by me it’s so hard to find a good backgammon board. They are always miniature for some reason.

[@oscarkockal]

nice

[@hungrymon7887]

Good vid on efficiency. Here's some bullshit: on your site BackGala I just beat a slightly higher rated player 7-0. My match play rating was .39 lower than my opponents. But his luck factor was slightly higher. I GOT ZERO RATIING POINTS. WHY?

[@johnarizona3820]

Stacks have a use as well though, for example; when your play an overly aggressive opponent and you stack to buy time in building a block elsewhere or planning an attack where it's not obvious. If you can delay placing venerable stones far away from home until you are ready the pay off is worth it.

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

If you play an overly aggressive opponent, the way to exploit him is to play pure and efficient and go for a prime game plan, you definitely don't want to play safe and make stacks.

[@johnarizona3820]

@@BackgammonGalaxy I'll look into that, thanks.

[@thegalhorowitz]

what a beautiful sofa tho

[@hansimgluck2294]

Hi, you have a nice Board, wehre can man bye such a Board

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Thank you very much. Actually Grandmaster Marc has many beautiful boards in his collection, that you can see in the "GM reveals board collection" video on this channel. However, the newest one from the UBC World Championship final is the new crown in the collection: shop.backgammongalaxy.com/products/earth-luxury-backgammon-board

[@macleadg]

Congratulations on the Backgammon Galaxy upgrade. I can’t logon now so I’ve stopped playing there. Massive screwup.

[@luismarcelomoreno8726]

Cheers I am from Brazil and your bord is very nice, but the pronounce "Gamou" is not the best kkk. Congratulations for your channel

[@gipsytraveler]

YOu explained the same point twice, very inefficient use of my time watching.....

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

😂😂😂

[@nomado3650]

Camera man, don’t move! It’s distracting.

[@yoshiworkmusic]

This guy is really hot, I lost focus on his explanation.

[@WV591]

BS, once you learn strategy, it's all about dice and luck. same as any card game. you can be expert but if you get crap cards you've had it. this game is 90 % dice and 10 % strategy.

[@DJFAYZE13]

Backgammon is similar to poker, and it’s why backgammon is played in matches. Luck can absolutely cause you losses in the short term, but solid strategy wins out over luck with repeated games.

[@021om6]

I hate backgammon it's a game of dice just luck. Chess is 0 luck

[@BackgammonGalaxy]

Well, then you're in the wrong KZbin channel ;-) And as a matter of fact, backgammon is both luck AND skill combined which is what makes it way more exciting than chess.