Backgammon – Three General Strategies
Posted in Backgammon on 03/11/2022 10:25 am by Jillian
In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 chief plans employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between strategies almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves building a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as deep as you can achieve, to block in your opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable strategy at the start of the match. You can build the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the game advances.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quick as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your competitor tosses an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you are able to play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your opponent is now in serious difficulty because they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or higher anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It should be played when you are significantly behind as this strategy much improves your chances. The best areas for anchors are towards your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is crucial 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 required to break up this right away, while your competitor is getting their pieces home, because you do not have any other extra pieces to move! In this case, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you might preserve your position up until your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a good idea to attempt and get your competitor to hit them in this case!