Backgammon – Three General Strategies
by Caden on Monday, June 26th, 2023
In exceptionally general terms, there are three chief tactics employed. You want to be able to hop between game plans almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of assembling a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you can achieve, to block in your competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable tactic at the begining of the match. You can build the wall anyplace between your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This is comprised of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your opposer rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is now in serious dire straits taking into account that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or more checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It should be used when you are significantly behind as this plan much improves your opportunities. The best places for anchor spots are near your opponent’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is critical for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having two nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your opponent is shifting their checkers home, seeing that you do not have any other spare pieces to shift! In this case, it’s more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position up till your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!
Posted in Backgammon | No Comments »
