Playing XG to Improve Your Game

Steve Sax, a Backgammon Masters Awarding Body–certified grandmaster and member of the American Backgammon Hall of Fame, explains how to play against the eXtreme Gammon software to improve your game in this video. One of the best ways to improve your game or prepare for a competitive tournament is to pit your skills against the leading backgammon neural net software, eXtreme Gammon (XG). XG also includes a number of analytic features that help you analyze a given position, such as looking at the dice distribution of bad and good rolls for your opponent in response to your choice.

Steve is a foremost player, coach, and author. He was inducted into the American Backgammon Hall of Fame in 2019 and has been selected as a Giant of Backgammon eleven consecutive times since 2001. Over his four decades of tournament experience, he has won 46 American Backgammon Tour events, including the Main Championship, Consolation, Masters Jackpot, and other major events.

This presentation occurred at a Women’s World of Backgammon Learning Session on April 18, 2025. In this video, Steve invited Zoom attendees to suggest moves and their rationale in a match against XG and commented on their suggestions and other alternatives.