Backgammon – Three Main Techniques
Posted in Backgammon on 08/31/2025 01:25 am by JillianIn extraordinarily general terms, there are three fundamental plans employed. You want to be agile enough to switch strategies quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you might manage, to lock in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable tactic at the start of the match. You can assemble the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your competitor rolls an early two and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is now in big-time difficulty seeing that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have two or more pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at a minimum two of your pieces.) It must be used when you are significantly behind as this action much improves your opportunities. The strongest places for anchors are near your opponent’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is essential for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break up this straight away, while your opponent is getting their checkers home, seeing that you do not have any other extra pieces to shift! In this case, it is better to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position until your competitor provides you a chance to hit, so it may be a good idea to try and get your competitor to get them in this situation!