In backgammon matches then you can often feel the game flow and by that I mean what your opponent is actually doing. In a match of first to 21pts for example then a player may start the match very aggressively and may even get into the lead. But in a match situation where the score was say 17-10 then the dynamics of the situation have completely changed. A player who was initially aggressive is suddenly in a completely different situation. Suddenly it is no longer in their interests to offer marginal doubles and re-doubles.
The player with the lead can then start to defend that lead and if he feels that his opponent wants to convert the game into a short term shootout then it is obviously not in the interests of this player with a score line of 17-10. However let us look at a different situation where the score is 15-15. The best players in the world can feel out their opponents and what they could get away with. So a world class player switches between aggression and non aggression and can change gears based on game and match conditions.
If he feels that he could maybe get away with a couple of cheap doubles and get a 17-15 lead then he may go for that opportunity. Sometimes a player’s natural passive bias can come through at the start of a match and this is where very aggressive play can secure an early match lead.
