Backgammon – Three General Techniques
Posted in Backgammon on 10/11/2017 10:25 am by Jillian
In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 fundamental game plans employed. You must be able to switch tactics instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you might manage, to lock in the competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate strategy at the start of the match. You can build the wall anywhere between your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quick as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your opposer tosses an early 2 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 8/3. Your opposer is now in serious difficulty considering that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or more pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at least two of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are extremely behind as this plan greatly improves your chances. The best locations for anchors are near your competitor’s lower points and either on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is critical for a competent backgame: besides, there is no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this straight away, while your challenger is shifting their pieces home, seeing that you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you can maintain your position up until your opposer provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a great idea to try and get your opponent to get them in this case!