These are all unfortunate opening throws, five-ace being especially bad, and the English players think the best, perhaps because the boldest, way to play them is to leave one or two blots, one of which, however, lays the foundation for possession of your five-point on the next throw, always a great advantage if you can secure it. If neither of the blots are hit, the Englishman pushes forward in the hope of gammoning his adversary, and so winning a double game. In America, where gammons count no more than hits, nothing is to be gained by taking such chances, and the foregoing methods of playing these three throws would therefore be considered very bad.
The English Game. When the players count double and triple games, it is not an uncommon thing to play for the gammon, especially against inferior adversaries, or when one gets a decided advantage at the start. The first thing is to secure your own or your adversary’s five point, or both, and if you succeed in that you should play a very forward game, and endeavour to gammon your opponent. After the five-points, secure your bar point, so as to prevent your opponent from “running” with double sixes. Some players think the bar point better than the five point, but it must be remembered that points in the home table are usually better than any outside. If you get the five and bar points made up, try for the four point, and after that you may take some risks to get your men home, and do not take up your opponent’s men if you are ahead of him, because they may give you trouble when they re-enter in your home table.
The American Game. When a gammon or backgammon counts you nothing more if you win it, and costs you nothing more if you lose it, the tactics of the game are entirely changed. It is folly to take any risks for the sake of a gammon, and any plays which leave unnecessary blots are very bad; for which reason the three throws shown in the foregoing diagram would be absurd in the American game. On the other hand, you may risk being gammoned, or even backgammoned, if it is the only way to save the game. An Englishman cannot take this risk, for he might lose a triple game in attempting to save a single.
Secure the five point in your own and your adversary’s home table as soon as possible, and then the bar and four points. After the first few throws the player should take a general survey of the board, in order to see whether he is ahead or behind, or if he has any advantage of position. He must then decide whether he will play a backward or a forward game. A glance at the relative positions of the men will usually show if one side is much more advanced than the other, without going into any minute calculations as to how many points nearer home one side may be.
If, at the beginning of the game, one player makes two or three large throws in succession, while his adversary gets small throws only, the latter will have little chance of winning the game simply by running for home, whereas the former’s best chance will be to follow up his early advantage and get home as fast as possible. The only hope for the man who is behind is that he can pick up some of his opponent’s men, setting them back, and in order to do this he must keep behind his adversary, so as to meet as many of his men as possible.
This enables us to formulate the great principle of the American game, which is that when a player is ahead he should go ahead as fast as he can; and when he is behind, he should stay behind as long as he can. In the first place he is playing a forward, and in the second place a backward game.
The Forward Game. The great point in this game, after having obtained the advantage of several good throws in the opening, is to get home as rapidly as possible without unnecessarily exposing your men by leaving blots. Do not take up your adversary’s men if you can help it, because by so doing you place obstacles in your own path, and assist him by allowing him to stay behind, which is just his game. Get past all his men if possible, especially if he has moved his two men out of your home table.
The Backward Game. Exactly the opposite tactics are of course the best for the player who is behind. He should keep two or three men in his adversary’s home table, preferably on the ace and deuce points, in the hope of catching some of the enemy, and setting them back. The result of these tactics, if successful, will be to offset the advantage of the adversary’s high throws early in the game, because every man captured not only has to start his journey over again, but is liable to be picked up a second or third time. As it is to the advantage of the forward player to avoid picking up men, the one who is behind can leave blots with great freedom, and may even spread his men so that some of them must be taken up. This intense back game is peculiarly American, for in the English game such tactics would usually result in a gammon, and often in a backgammon, and the player dare not risk so much just to save a hit. In the back game it is very important to spread the men freely, so that they may act as catchers.