Tempus Fugit

Another Boot Camp problem to help solidify your backgammon skills.

Hitting a blot is good for many reasons, but perhaps the most basic one is that it puts your opponent off balance and forces them to use at least half of their next roll coming in (unless they roll doubles - but hey that’s backgammon). Hitting purely for that reason is called a ‘tempo’, meaning you’re taking a unit of ‘time’ away from your opponent.

Hitting loose on the acepoint isn’t often the right thing to do in terms of priming or racing. It might be the right thing when blitzing. But the most common reason you do it is just for tempo.

Here White is threatening to do lots of things next roll. They have a flexible and dynamic position. Bar/16 tidies things up for you and gives you a relatively safe structure, but allows White to carry out those threats.

By hitting on the acepoint instead you would prevent them from fully focussing on their attack. You’re unlikely to cover your blot for quite a while, and you may well be hit back, but that’s fine. In return you give yourself lots of attacking options next roll where White’s own blots can quickly become a weakness.

Bar/21 6/1* is the answer here.