Yes, the biggest and wildest online backgammon tournament on the net will take place Monday eve, October 1st, 8 PM (GMT) sharp on play65 backgammon room. The winner will grab a $50,000 prize, and 127 more players will have to suffice with slightly smaller prizes. It happens once in two months, and you don’t want to miss it! The largest and craziest of play65 backgammon tournaments occurs. 128 players will win cash prizes but only one skilled online backgammon player will win the grand $50,000 prize! To join the tournament, simply click on the “Event Tournament” tab, and then choose “enroll”.

What makes a backgammon player an expert in its field? On top of the obvious characteristics (experience, talent, knowledge), the brain of a backgammon expert is filled with reference positions, according to which they analyze and conclude similar positions. A reference position, if you are not familiar with the term, is a key position in backgammon by which other backgammon positions are judged.

Since not all of us backgammon players are gifted mathematicians with phenomenal memory, the least we can do is study some key positions and generalize them to similar positions. A reference position is a leading tool in the backgammon player’s life. It shows you the borderline between two possible moves: between a safe play and playing aggressively, between doubling and no doubling and between taking and passing.

If you are a backgammon beginner of an intermediate player, take the time to learn and memorize some reference positions. The more backgammon games you play, your collection of positions will grow, it will be easier for you to recall similar positions and to make the right move.

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Backgammon Players Rating
FIBS Rating System

Play65 News

Soon you’ll be able to enjoy your 15 minutes of fame on Play65. An updated list of the current top 10 backgammon champions will appear on Play65 homepage, so you’ll be able to righteously brag with your online backgammon achievements!

Backgammon Players’ Rating

How can you tell the skill of your online backgammon opponent? By his or hers player’s rating, of course.
Play65 is using a modified version of FIBS rating system to determine the backgammon players’ rating. The rating system is quite easy to understand: when you win a game (whether a match or a money game), you earn rating points and when you lose, rating points are subtracted from your account. Note that a single game is rated as a 3 point match, so money games and backgammon matches ratings are even.

FIBS Rating System

FIBS rating system is itself a modification of a successful rating method used in Chess. The rating system helps the online backgammon player to easily calculate his or her winning chances against their virtual opponents. The differences in rating between the two contestants, the length of the regarded backgammon match, and each player’s backgammon experience together determine the players’ probability to win or lose in each online backgammon match.

FIBS rating system was modified by Play65 to fit the characteristics of the online backgammon room. There are other backgammon rating systems used in the online and the off-line backgammon world to determine who’s the best backgammon player in the world, or at least who’s a better backgammon player than you.

More on backgammon players’ rating and ranking methods.

Before I start to explain the concept of backgammon shots, I want to recommend all you numberphobic from continue reading. Stop right now and go read Ulysses instead. This post will discuss the subject of shot counting in backgammon and will include scary words such as probabilities, pip counts and lots of numbers. Backgammon Shot Counting Direct Shots Dice Combinations Table Double Shots Indirect/Combination Shots

Backgammon Shot Counting

In backgammon, a shot is an opportunity to hit the opponent blot. Wouldn’t you like to know beforehand how many shot numbers there are at a given position? By shot counting, you’ll be able to tell the possible shot numbers.

Let’s start with explaining how to count direct shots:

A direct shot is an opportunity to hit a blot with a single number from one die. How many opportunities do you think you have? Each die has six sides; six double six equals 36 different combinations. Obviously, you must include in your counting similar combinations such as 1+4 and 4+1 to make an accurate shot counting.

36 Dice Combinations

11 12 13 14 15 16 21 22 23 24 25 26 31 32 33 34 35 36 41 42 43 44 45 46 51 52 53 54 55 56 61 62 63 64 65 66 As you can see, your chances of rolling a 6 using a single die are 11/36. Now that we’ve got direct shots counting figured out, let’s move on to double shots counting.

Double Shots

A double shot is, well, the opportunity to hit a blot with 2 numbers from both dice. So, if your chances of rolling a single number are 11/36, your chances of rolling two numbers, for example 1 and 4, are 20/36. Look back at the dice combinations table if you are experiencing any doubts.

Indirect Shots/Combination Shots

Indirect shot or a combination shot is an opportunity to hit an opposing blot using the numbers on both dice used together. To calculate indirect shots, you can use the previously learned lessons. In other words, if you need to roll 2 and 4 to hit a blot, your chances would be 20/36; if you aspire to roll a 5, your chances go down to 11/36…

Guess where you can play online backgammon in your own language whether your mother tongue is Chinese, Swedish or Turkish? You’ve got that right! The 17 languages backgammon platform is one of the great things about Play65. Although internet users usually can manage their English, it is always better to be able to read the small letters in your own language.

Additionally, the more languages the more variant the backgammon community. So, in one night dedicated to online backgammon, you can find yourself competing against people from different sides of the globe. By using play65 chat module, you can communicate with them, learn about their culture, their unique backgammon rules… And what do you know, you can even make friends with them! If you have any interesting story on people you’ve met via Play65 backgammon platform, please share with us. Did you meet the love of your life in an exciting online backgammon tournament?

Did you manage to overcome political indifferences and to make friends with the enemy? Do let us know!