Backgammon Strategy for Accepting Doubles

A lot has been said on when a backgammon player should make a backgammon double. Not as much has been said on the backgammon strategy for accepting a backgammon double. Especially for the novice backgammon player some simple thinking process needs to be outlined that does not involve complicated calculations.

The backgammon player must adopt a two pronged backgammon strategy when faced with a backgammon double. The first is to assess what backgammon moves his opponent has foreseen in making the backgammon double. In what way the opponent is likely to improve his position. The more important assessment is what chances are there of those backgammon moves actually occurring. If those backgammon moves have a low chance of occurring, no matter how threatening they are, the backgammon player should take the double.

The other part of the backgammon strategy in accepting the backgammon double is to assess whether the player can effectively counterattack. One of the key issues here is how long the backgammon game is likely to be. The longer the game, the more chances the backgammon player will have to turn it around and the more reasons for taking the double. If the backgammon player has only a single winning strategy or only very unlikely winning strategies he should drop. But if he can line up two or three reasonably likely backgammon moves to change fortunes he should take the backgammon double.

There is one important aspect to the backgammon strategy for accepting doubles. Do not start to think only when offered the backgammon double. At every move the backgammon player should be considering what should he do if offered the backgammon double. That way he will make the right choice when the backgammon double actually comes.