GreedyGammon Backgammon forum support

We have read it in books, we have heard the experts lecture to us about how important it is to make the 5 pt. Here is a good example of how NOT making the 5 pt can be a huge blunder. In this example (playing red) I had the chance to lock up my 5 pt with a nice 1-1 roll. However, it would use up the entire roll and there was another tempting option to clean up some blots that were scattered around. So there it is.. a collossal TRIPLE (.300) blunder. So I shall remind myself again and in future hope to practice what I preach.. ALWAYS make your 5 pt. ALWAYS
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Apparently I have not learned this lesson yet even though I don't hesitate to lecture others about it. Here once again I failed to make the 5 pt thinking I was doing something useful by blocking 66. WRONG!! Not making the 5 pt is a DOUBLE blunder with fries...
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Well.. here is an exception to the rule. I made my 5 pt and it turned out to be a blunder.

1. Rollout 13/9(2) 11/7(2) Eq.: +0.599
0.800 0.193 0.011 - 0.200 0.024 0.000 CL +0.599 CF +0.599
2. Rollout 11/7(2) 6/2(2) Eq.: +0.536 ( -0.063)
0.768 0.202 0.012 - 0.232 0.048 0.001 CL +0.536 CF +0.536
3. Rollout 13/5(2) Eq.: +0.478 ( -0.121)
0.739 0.141 0.004 - 0.261 0.023 0.000 CL +0.478 CF +0.478

The gnubg says I should have blocked the opponent by making my bar point and the second move also makes the bar point. So in this case leaving the bar point open is not a reasonable option even at the cost of missing out on making out 5 pt. My best guess why is that making the 5 pt feels like a "running" play but we don't need to be running since we are already behind by 9 pips so the positional blocking play of making the bar point and the 9 pt gives us better chance 80% vs 73%. So there u have it. There are always exceptions to any rule in BG. Experience will guide you. I considered the correct play it was my gut feeling first choice but because I had blundered so many times before by not making the 5 pt, well, I blundered again by sticking to the rule when the other play was clearly correct. Live and learn

ok here is another exception to this rule. I made my 5 pt and it was a .110 blunder. Upon review it is clear that a 4 pt prime would be more valuable than the 3 pt we have when we make the 5 pt. So in this case making the bar point makes more sense. Leaving the blot right there on the 9 pt is just too risky. Not worth it when we can just play safe block with making the bar point and have a bigger prime to block with. So yeah.. We cant just always make the 5 pt. This is what makes backgammon so difficult to master. Subtle changes in the position can influence what the best play should be and it is not always immediately obvious.This is why you will often see top players who play in big money touraments will look at a position for a long time trying to find the best play, unlike the casual player who makes every move within 3-5 seconds.