Backgammon – Three Basic Plans

In extraordinarily general terms, there are three basic techniques employed. You must be able to hop between tactics almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This is composed of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you are able to manage, to barricade in your competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate course of action at the start of the game. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match continues.

The Blitz

This is composed of locking your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your opposer rolls an early two and shifts one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in serious dire straits due to the fact that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have locked half your home board!

The Backgame

This strategy is where you have 2 or more anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a point occupied by at least 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest places for anchors are towards your competitor’s lower points and either on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is integral for a powerful backgame: after all, there is no reason having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break apart this right away, while your competitor is getting their pieces home, considering that you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position up till your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a good idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.