Opening 43, Historical references

Over the years, I've looked over opening play recommendations from a large number of pre-bot backgammon books, written from 1745 to 1977. In thirty-one of these books, opening 43 is mentioned:

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D (Down, 13/10 13/9) is ranked sole first 18 times, plus tied 6 times (with Z, $, $, Z, Z, S).

Z (reverse split, 24/21 13/9) is ranked sole first 2 times, plus tied 4 times (with D, S, D, D)

S (Split, 24/20 13/10) is ranked sole first 1 time, plus tied for first 2 times (with D, Z)

$ (Slot, 13/9 8/5) is ranked sole first 2 times, plus tied 2 times (with D, D).
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[Assume Money play or normal score. Mostly, matches were not played or readers were not sophisticated enough to distinguished late match play with scores such as gammon save and gammon go. In older books where no-cube backgammon (equivalent to DMP) was common or optional, it seems that the recommended play was the same with and without a cube.]

Each of the comments and opinions included in this treatise should be viewed as a snapshot of a point in an author's career, in no way intended to suggest it was his or her lifelong opinion.

White is Player 2

score: 0
pip: 167

Unlimited Game
Jacoby Beaver

pip: 160
score: 0

Blue is Player 1

XGID=-b----E-CAA-eC---c-e----B-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

Blue played opening 43D (Down, 24/21 13/9)

D was by far the most popular move played in the years covered (i.e., through 1977), and the analysis is extensive. However, so as not to risk being a bore, I'll quote just from the late great Paul Magriel's widely lauded book Backgammon (page 53):

"In order to increase the chance of forming key points (5pt, 7pt, 4pt), it is necessary to have spare men or builders to bear upon these points. Points do not form automatically; you have to work to make them. For this reason, the concept of builders is extremely important... The following group of moves enables you to bring checkers down from the midpoint... into the outer board as builders: 54, 43, 52, 53, 32.

"Note that 43, 53, 52, 32 could be played safely without leaving any blots. However, the value of the builders created by the indicated plays more than offsets the danger of being hit by certain indirect shots."

White is Player 2

score: 0
pip: 167

Unlimited Game
Jacoby Beaver

pip: 160
score: 0

Blue is Player 1

XGID=-b----E-CA--eD---c-e-A--A-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

Blue played opening 43Z (reverse split, 24/21 13/9)

George Henry Fisher (How to Play Backgammon, 1934) deemed Z to be best, as it "places a valuable man in White's outer table [9pt]." He noted that D "leaves a considerable exposure of blots, although there is a good chance of a block on the next throw." Walter Richard (Complete Backgammon, 1940) similarly preferred Z, mentioning that D "gives you two builders but you are taking a 1-2 chance of having one of these blots sent home, thereby making you lose 15 or 16 pips."

Authors of four books (The Backgammon Teacher by William Green in 1819, Backgammon in 20 Minutes by Harold Thorpe in 1876, Backgammon the Action Game by Prince Obelensky and Ted James in 1969, and The Clermont Book of Backgammon by David Dor-El in 1975) judged Z to be equal best (with D being the other tied-for-best play except in Thorpe's case).

[Relative to its strength, Z got somewhat short shrift until after the book period I'm covering (i.e., through 1977). Starting in the 1980s, especially with the advent of bots, Z received a significant amount of attention in printed backgammon material.]

White is Player 2

score: 0
pip: 167

Unlimited Game
Jacoby Beaver

pip: 160
score: 0

Blue is Player 1

XGID=-b----E-C-A-eD---c-eA---A-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

Blue played opening 43S (Split, 24/20 13/10)

Only one author supported S as solely best, in Philip Martyn on Backgammon, 1976: "As with 54 you are setting [the opponent] the problem of what to do about your man on his 5pt. But you are better off with 43 [than with 54], because you have moved the 3 to a point where is it a good builder." Today, bot evidence suggests the opposite: that opening 54S is more desirable than 43S (or any other 43).

Two authors judged S to be too close to call (described as a "new move" in 1876 by Harold Thorpe, who cited Z as the alternative), and in 1976 by Paul Magriel. The latter wrote (on page 209 of his book) "When moving 32, 54 and 43, I have no strong preference between the [S] plays given above, and those [D] in Chapter 5" (quoted earlier). Paul did not diagram or mention Z or other 43 plays.

White is Player 2

score: 0
pip: 167

Unlimited Game
Jacoby Beaver

pip: 160
score: 0

Blue is Player 1

XGID=-b----E-C---eE---c-eAA----:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

Blue played opening 43U (Up 24/21 24/20)

George Marbadi alone backed opening 43U, in his Vanity Fair's Backgammon to Win (1930). He likewise supported U for opening 21, 41, 51, 32, 62, 63 and 64.

[Today, bots rank U in fourth place, as roughly an error of .02. However, this play does have the virtue of sometimes generating a larger reply error from opponents who have not studied it.]

In a three-year span around the publication Marbadi's book, four other books offered support for $ (Slot, 13/9 8/5). Grosvenor Nichols, in Modern Backgammon (1928), stated "We prefer [$]" while acknowledging that "many players" of the time played D, S or Z. In 1930, Ralph A. Bond, in The Beginner's Book of Modern Backgammon, also touted $, branding D as the conservative alternative! In that same year, Lelia Hattersly (in How to Play the New Backgammon) identified $ as the more sporting though equal alternative to D. Finally, in 1931, an author nicknamed "Bar Point" (in Backgammon Up to Date) similarly opined D and $ to be equal best.

[Not long ago, I saw a fellow in a $10 chouette play $ and was informed it his regular opening 43 move.]

Two other moves were mentioned (though rejected): T (sTack/Tower, 13/6, by Marbadi) and W (Wild, 24/20 8/5, by Fisher). In short, every legal opening 43 play without 8/4, 6/3 or 6/2 has inspired serious contemplation in some book.

White is Player 2

score: 0
pip: 167

Unlimited Game
Jacoby Beaver

pip: 160
score: 0

Blue is Player 1

XGID=-b---AE-BA--eD---c-e----B-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

Blue played opening 43$ (Slot, 13/9 8/5)

White is Player 2

score: 0
pip: 167

Unlimited Game
Jacoby Beaver

pip: 160
score: 0

Blue is Player 1

XGID=-b----F-C---eD---c-e----B-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

Blue played opening 43T (sTack/Tower, 13/6)

White is Player 2

score: 0
pip: 167

Unlimited Game
Jacoby Beaver

pip: 160
score: 0

Blue is Player 1

XGID=-b---AE-B---eE---c-eA---A-:0:0:1:00:0:0:3:0:10

Blue played opening 43W (Wild, 24/20 8/5)

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