I am working through “Backgammon Praxis”. In the introduction, Marty Storer wrote:
Chapter 16 of Backgammon, “Safe Play vs Bold Play,” remains one of the finest chievements of backgammon theory. Magriel lists and explains several criteria for deciding when to play safely and when to play boldly. These criteria are as valid now as they were when the book was written. They’re easily the most useful of the time-honored rules of thumb. If you have any doubt about whether to make a safe or a bold play, go through the criteria and ask yourself, “What would Magriel do?” A huge majority of the time they’ll lead you to the right play. Of course, that means you have to memorize them, but that’s not too hard. Here they are in their entirety:
A. Tactical Principles
1. Do you have an advanced anchor? Having an advanced anchor
enables you to play boldly.
2. How strong is your opponent’s inner board? The stronger your
opponent’s inner board, the more conservatively you must play.
3. How strong is your inner board (especially compared to your
opponent’s?) If you have more inner board points closed than
your opponent, you tend to play boldly; with less points closed,
more conservatively.
4. Does your opponent have blots in his inner board? If your
opponent has blots in his inner board, you can afford to take
more chances because of possible return shots.
B. Strategic Principles
An immortal rule of thumb revisited.
1. How many men do you have back? The more men you have
back, the more chances you can take. With no men back or
only one man back, you must play conservatively.
2. How many men does your opponent have back? When your
opponent has no men back or only one man back, you want
to play provocatively to try to force an exchange of hits.
(From Magriel, Backgammon, p. 221.)
Enter he textbook, Vol. 1, p. 42.
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eXtreme Gammon Version: 2.03
" 13/9 7/4* is a bold attempt to take advantage of the stronger inner board. It follows Magriel's wonderful criteria for safe versus bold play."
Really? 1. No ADVANCED anchor=safe. 2. Two points, not so strong=bold. 3. Stronger=bold. 4. No blots=safe. 5. Are two men back a criteria to play bold? 6. Are two men splitted a criteria to play bold? So i came up with an unruled decision with the BPvsSPC rule of thumb. My rule of thumb is then: playing conservative, because backgammon is a game of rollerball. What do you think? Has any pro wrote a detailed commentar to this immortal rule of thumb? What would you have played? And play the textbook, not the opponent.