Backgammon – 3 General Techniques
Posted in Backgammon on 01/14/2021 12:25 am by Jillian
In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 chief strategies employed. You need to be agile enough to hop between game plans almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of assembling a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you can manage, to lock in your opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your 11-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as quick as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. i.e., if your competitor rolls an early 2 and shifts one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is then in big-time trouble seeing that they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or more anchors in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at a minimum two of your checkers.) It should be employed when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest locations for anchor spots are near your opponent’s lower points and either on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is critical for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break apart this right away, while your competitor is moving their checkers home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other additional checkers to move! In this case, it is more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up till your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it may be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opposer to get them in this situation!