Backgammon Analysis Software

The fastest way to get better at backgammon is to find out which of your moves were wrong. Analysis software does exactly that. It plays at a very high level, checks every decision you made in a match and shows you the better choice. You do not need to understand how it works inside to use it well; you need a routine for reviewing your games.

The two main programs

GNU Backgammon

GNU Backgammon is free and open-source software. It runs on the major desktop systems, analyzes matches, evaluates positions and runs rollouts. Its interface is plain, but everything a learner needs is there. For most players starting out with analysis, it is the obvious first choice because it costs nothing.

eXtreme Gammon

eXtreme Gammon is a commercial analysis program known for its strength and a polished interface. It offers the same core features, match analysis, position evaluation and rollouts, along with study tools for drilling positions. Many serious players use it for detailed study.

Both programs work the same way for a learner: you load a match, run the analysis and step through the flagged decisions. Use them to study your own games after you play, not during a game against another person.

Getting your matches into the program

Many servers let you save or download your matches in a standard text format. Both programs can import common match formats. Save a match after you finish it, open it in the software and choose to analyze the whole match. If your server does not offer downloads, you can still set up a single position by hand and ask the program for its evaluation.

Understanding the numbers

Equity

Equity is the program's estimate of how good a position is for the player on roll, taking into account wins, gammons and backgammons. Every candidate move gets an equity, and the best move is the one with the highest value. The difference between your move and the best move is the size of your error.

Error rate

After analyzing a match, the program sums your errors and gives an overall error rate, usually separate for checker play and cube decisions. It also labels individual mistakes by size, from small inaccuracies to large errors often called blunders. A lower error rate means stronger play. Tracking it over many matches is a far better measure of progress than your win record, which depends heavily on the dice.

Luck

The programs also measure luck by comparing each roll with the average roll in that position. This lets you separate a loss caused by poor play from one caused by the dice, which is helpful when a match feels unfair. The fair dice page explains how to look at luck over many games.

Rollouts

A quick evaluation is very good, but in difficult positions it can be off. A rollout settles the question: the program plays the position out many times with fresh dice, choosing the moves itself, and averages the results. The more games it plays, the more reliable the answer, though it takes longer. Use rollouts for the few positions in a match where you and the program disagree and the difference matters.

A simple review routine

  1. Play your match normally. Do not check the software while the game is on.
  2. Analyze the whole match once you are done.
  3. Start with the biggest errors. Look at the three to five worst decisions first. Small slips can wait.
  4. Ask why. For each mistake, try to put the reason in words: wrong game plan, a blot that was hit too easily, a missed point, a poor cube decision.
  5. Check cube errors separately. In match play they are often more costly than checker errors.
  6. Look for patterns. If the same type of mistake shows up across several matches, that is your next topic to study.
  7. Keep notes. Track your error rate over time to see real progress.

Common themes to look up after a review are covered in beginner strategy, and the race and shot numbers in pip count.