I got a pretty handy tip about "too good": in the opening it's never too good to double. Even the famous 55 blitz reference position with the blot on the bar point, people forget that a) at a normal score, it's only too good by a tiny bit and b) at other scores, it is a big take. So it's better to not worry about "am I too good" early on. At least for me this helped me avoid some pretty bad blunders. (obviously this is a pretty simple rule of thumb that is sometimes wrong. but never super wrong)
I think the trickiest too good to spot by far is whenever back game strategies are involved, either playing against the back game (this is probably more often "no double" not "too good", or a mix of the 2 in a way) or after the back game player has successfully hit with a strong home board and starts mobilising the back checkers. It's very tempting to cash out when the game finally swings in your favour after so long hoping on the back game, good to remember that when the back game pays off it pays off spectacularly!
Excellent videos on the intricacies of backgammon. . I am in the process of learning the game more deeply after playing just casually for a while. Cubing is something I really need to understand better.
I got a pretty handy tip about "too good": in the opening it's never too good to double. Even the famous 55 blitz reference position with the blot on the bar point, people forget that a) at a normal score, it's only too good by a tiny bit and b) at other scores, it is a big take. So it's better to not worry about "am I too good" early on. At least for me this helped me avoid some pretty bad blunders.
(obviously this is a pretty simple rule of thumb that is sometimes wrong. but never super wrong)
I think the trickiest too good to spot by far is whenever back game strategies are involved, either playing against the back game (this is probably more often "no double" not "too good", or a mix of the 2 in a way) or after the back game player has successfully hit with a strong home board and starts mobilising the back checkers. It's very tempting to cash out when the game finally swings in your favour after so long hoping on the back game, good to remember that when the back game pays off it pays off spectacularly!
Yes, these back game positions can be tough to assess.
Excellent videos on the intricacies of backgammon. . I am in the process of learning the game more deeply after playing just casually for a while. Cubing is something I really need to understand better.
Thanks Mike. I give lessons also if you're interested