Backgammon starts as a hobby, but interest builds as the excitement of the game captures the player. After catching the backgammon bug, many players begin to take the game more seriously. They want to improve their game and play at the highest level possible. However, some players improve year after year, while others don’t seem to make much progress. In this post, we will explore what is required to take your backgammon to the next level.
Use the right strategy
It doesn’t matter how much you play or study, unless you use strategies that help you learn and remember information. Looking at positions in XG Mobile Backgammon or reading backgammon books won’t teach you much more than staring at a wall. As the saying goes, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.
You don’t improve just by memorising positions and moves. It may work for the opening moves or the second roll, but it won’t take you much further. It is possible to commit every opening move and the opening replies to memory. However, unless you understand “why” behind these moves, your game will not improve.
When you memorise, you become like a robot moving pieces. The best way to learn is to understand why a move is the best choice, why it leads to more wins or gammons. Why you make one move at one score and another at a different score. Once you understand why, you’ll be more likely to make the right play, even in scenarios you haven’t seen before. There are too many variations in positions and match scores to memorise every situation. You need to combine reasoning with everything you learn. So, the key to proper backgammon strategy is to understand the “why” behind every situation.
Another important element of learning strategy is breaking the game into smaller parts. Simply playing games and trying to figure out what went wrong won’t teach you much. Even analysing games in XG Mobile Backgmmon won’t help unless you understand the “why”. You need to study the game in small sections to remember and understand what you’ve learned.
By breaking the game down and studying each part separately, and discussing the best moves for every roll and match score, the lessons are more likely to stick. This approach makes it easier to understand why one decision is better than another.
Attitude
If you don’t enjoy learning and studying, you won’t do it at all, or not for long. Personally, we enjoy the process of learning even more than playing the game. The most exciting moments come when we have a “Eureka” moment, discovering something new about the game’s strategy. Ego also plays a role. Are you someone who hates admitting they are wrong? Do you keep using the same tactics, even when they fail?
Ego and attitude affect both your learning and your gameplay. Sometimes, your ego can cause problems over the board, stopping you from making the best decisions, even when you know what the right move is if you could stay calm and unemotional. The psychology of the game is critical. Don’t let bad thought processes get in the way of learning.
The question is: do you want to be a player who stays at the same level year after year? Do you want to remain an intermediate player forever with little chance of advancing? Or do you want to enjoy watching your game improve every year?
Not all of us can become world-class players just because we have the right strategies and attitude, but everyone can keep improving and enjoy the game more. The key is to approach learning and improvement not by focusing on the results, but simply because the process itself is enjoyable. Apply these concepts and take your backgammon to the next level.
Related content
Tips for winning at 247 Games.