What to Do After the Crawford Game

As we all know, the Crawford game is a single game played without the doubling cube. This event occurs in match play when one player is a single point from victory. The Crawford rules are hard on some players. Many of those who play match style backgammon cling to doubling cube in much the same manner that Yo-yo dieters cling to a box of King Dongs. Once the Crawford game is done, the doubling cube is back in play. Now the question is what to do in that post Crawford game?

If you won the match at the conclusion of the Crawford Rule's game, what to do next is simple. A victory dance, and possibly mooning your opponent, would be appropriate. If there has been no decision in that game, than there are some strategies you should look at for the following game.

If after the Crawford Rule's game you find yourself trailing in the match, you should double as soon as the opportunity presents itself. This strategy is born of the fact that a player who is behind really has very little to lose. A loss means losing the match anyway, so why not double? This action guarantees that each game will be worth two to four points (depending on whether or not the game is a gammon).

Doubling is a two way street. The player who is behind can offer it, but the person who is winning doesn't need to accept the double. If the player who is behind has a Normalized Score that is an odd number (1, 3 or 5), then the appropriate play for the leader is to accept the double. To refuse would simply decrease the number of games that the losing player would need to play to win the match.

Conversely, if the person who is losing has a Normalized Score that puts them behind by even numbers (2, 4, 6, etc), what the leading player should do depends on what the situation in the game is. Accepting the double may mean the current game will decide the outcome of the match instead of putting off the outcome till the next game. The answer is that if you are winning the game, take the double. Take this opportunity to finish off your opponent. If you are losing, taking the double will mean letting a losing player get back into the game, so under that circumstance you should not accept the double.