Backgammon – Three General Techniques
Posted in Backgammon on 03/06/2018 03:27 am by Jillian
In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 chief plans employed. You must be agile enough to hop between tactics almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you might manage, to block in the competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable tactic at the begining of the match. You can build the wall anywhere within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This consists of locking your home board as fast as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. i.e., if your challenger rolls an early two and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your challenger is then in serious dire straits because they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or higher pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at least 2 of your checkers.) It must be played when you are significantly behind as this action greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest areas for anchor spots are near your opponent’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is essential for an effective backgame: besides, there is no reason having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your challenger is shifting their pieces home, because you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you might preserve your position up till your competitor gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!