Backgammon – Three Main Strategies
Posted in Backgammon on 09/01/2025 03:25 pm by JillianIn very general terms, there are 3 chief techniques employed. You must be able to hop between tactics almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you can achieve, to barricade in your opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most adequate procedure at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. i.e., if your competitor rolls an early two and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you are able to play six/one 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your competitor is now in big-time trouble because they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or more checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a position filled by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be used when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest areas for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is critical for a powerful backgame: after all, there’s no point having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your opposer is shifting their checkers home, seeing that you don’t have other extra pieces to shift! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up until your opposer provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to try and get your challenger to get them in this situation!