How to be Good Backgammon Player

What makes a backgammon player stands above the rest? Is it the photographic memory of reference positions, the wasted degree in statistics or is it personal traits one can acquire in time? Continue reading to learn about the most important characteristics you must work on to be good in backgammon (and by good we mean a better backgammon player than you used to be). 

Knowledge

It's not that top backgammon players do not recognize a lucky roll when they see one, but they should know better than relying on their good fortune in the long run. Acquiring wide knowledge in the essence of the game is far more reliable. Note that knowledge is not a synonym of memorization; knowing which move to play and knowing why it is better than the alternative is not the same as learning by heart several backgammon problems and solutions. To acquire that knowledge, you should record your games and analyze them, position by position, read backgammon books and magazines, follow annotated matches and position analysis, all while continuing practicing, against a real opponent or a computer program. What brings us to the next desirable quality: 

Patience

Patience is a required quality for champs in every sports, and backgammon is no different. Of course, being too patient can turn the intermediate player into a lazy bum, yet when applied reasonably, patience is a good quality. It provides you with the long breath needed to study and watch gradual progressions, to tolerate bad rolls and unbearable opponents.   

Sportsmanship

Speaking of opponents, a great backgammon player should know how to lose, he must accept losses as part of the process and he has to able to react to losing in a restrained and mature manner. Flipping the backgammon board or tossing the dice brutally are not the most acceptable forms of expressions.

Concentration

Backgammon tournaments tend to stretch for days and the best of the entrants find themselves playing one backgammon game after another. How can they do it while watching their opponents' backs and without getting too tired to win? Evidently, they have to stay in focus both on the course of each individual play and on the purpose this gathering: to go home with the desired title.

Experience

Naturally, no one was born an experienced backgammon player, yet it does not necessarily relate to an old age. You can gain backgammon experience by participating in as many backgammon games and tournaments as you can (of course, without running over your personal life and other occupations). Experience can give a player perspective, realistic appreciation of his (and his opponents) pluses and minuses, and a larger database of do's and don'ts in certain positions.