Billy Eisenberg
Billy Eisenberg made his name at the top of two different games. The American player is best known as a bridge champion, but he was also one of the leading backgammon players of the 1960s and 1970s. His career is a good example of how skills from one strategy game can carry over to another.
Backgammon in the 1960s and 1970s
Those two decades were a turning point for backgammon in the West. The game moved from back rooms and family tables into fashionable clubs, and organized tournaments became more common. Many of the strongest players of that period came from other games, especially bridge, chess and cards. They brought with them a habit of careful calculation and an understanding of probability that gave them an edge in a game still played largely by feel.
Eisenberg was one of those players. His reputation from that era rests on being among the strongest competitors of the time, in a field that helped build the modern tournament scene. To read more about this period, see our article on the backgammon boom and our page on the game's modern history.
What bridge and backgammon have in common
At first glance the two games look very different. Bridge is played with cards by four people in partnerships; backgammon is a two-player race with dice. Underneath, they share several demands:
- Thinking in probabilities. A bridge player estimates how the missing cards are likely to be split. A backgammon player counts how many rolls hit a blot or how often a checker on the bar will enter. Both choose the line that works most often, not the one that works in the best case.
- Planning under uncertainty. Neither game lets you control everything. Good players prepare for bad luck instead of hoping it will not come.
- Judging risk and reward. In bridge, this shows up in bidding and in deciding when to take a finesse. In backgammon, it shows up in every decision to hit or play safe, and in match play with the doubling cube.
- Concentration over a long session. A long match or a long bridge event punishes lapses. Players who stay sharp to the end win more.
Lessons for today's players
Players from Eisenberg's generation did not have analysis software. They improved by playing strong opponents, discussing positions with each other and working out the numbers by hand. That method still works. If you come to backgammon from another strategy game, use what you already know: count, compare options and think a few rolls ahead.
A good first step is to learn the basic odds every player uses. Our backgammon math page explains shot counting, entering chances and the pip count in plain terms.