Backgammon – Three Basic Techniques
Posted in Backgammon on 07/07/2020 09:25 am by Jillian
In exceptionally simple terms, there are three basic plans used. You must be agile enough to hop between tactics quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you are able to achieve, to lock in the opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate tactic at the start of the match. You can create the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your opponent tosses an early two and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your competitor is then in big-time calamity because they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or more checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at least two of your checkers.) It should be employed when you are extremely behind as this strategy much improves your chances. The better places for anchor spots are near your competitor’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is essential for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your opponent is getting their pieces home, considering that you don’t have any other extra checkers to move! In this case, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your competitor provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opponent to get them in this situation!