As someone who has gained some experience playing backgammon online, I allow myself to provide some advice for online backgammon beginners. Then follow this list of do’s and don’ts in online backgammon to improve your play. Starting in a positive perspective with the top 7 online backgammon do’s and continuing with 5 common mistakes you should avoid.

1. Do play in a manner that will not encourage your opponent to double.
2. Do make your position strong enough to take, so you’ll be able to pass a cube after the move you make.
3. Do look for a play that will give you a correct double, if you think that your planned move won’t lead to a double.
4. Do play to make your opponent drop, if you believe he can take after your next move.
5. Do fight for strategic points and take calculated risks, because, as everybody knows, it would be impossible to play without leaving blots somewhere, and it is better to take earlier little risks, for a great later reward.  
6. Do keep a good position as long as possible, and try another move, even if it means to leave a blot.  
7. Do hit your opponent twice (assuming it is possible). Nothing guarantees you that he won’t hit on his turn, and if he throws a bad cipher, you have in general the advantage to obtain a good position, leaving him behind for many following throws, or even for the rest of the game.  
8. Don’t play in a too secure manner.
9. Don’t count on your luck until the last minute; take in consideration the line point (which stops your opponent to escape with a six), and more importantly the 5 point in your home board as well as your opponent’s one. By gaining these points, you can generally control the game and your opponent will find it difficult to move, knowing that if you are hit, you have a sure refuge to get back to the game. Therefore, you must take these points every time it is possible and you should stop your opponent gain. You may also compensate the loss of a piece with other ones when the moves are compulsory.
10. Don’t advance with your pieces too far and too fast. For example, don’t take the point 2 with an opening of 6 – 4. You may occupy a good position on the board, but the risk taken is too big. All you have to do is to predict your future situation and limit your options.
11. Don’t leave a sure position too early when your opponent has three points or more in his or her home board. The result is often the loss of two pieces, which will disappoint your opponent, cause him or her to escape from a bad position while you won’t be able to come back. 
12. Don’t worry if you lose another piece even when you are left behind in the game; a good hit will put you on top again.

To sum up, anticipate the way the game will be played, be aggressive, avoid confused situations and more importunately, be lucky! We all need chance, so if you take your part and play a consistent game, you will win much more games than you will lose.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 21st, 2007 at 4:38 am and is filed under Backgammon Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.