The Basics of Backgammon Strategies – Part 2
Posted in Backgammon on 06/01/2026 01:25 am by Jillian
As we have dicussed in the previous article, Backgammon is a game of skill and good luck. The goal is to move your chips safely around the board to your inside board while at the same time your opposition shifts their chips toward their inner board in the opposing direction. With opposing player checkers heading in opposing directions there is bound to be conflict and the requirement for specific techniques at particular times. Here are the last 2 Backgammon techniques to complete your game.
The Priming Game Strategy
If the aim of the blocking tactic is to hamper the opponents ability to move their checkers, the Priming Game plan is to completely barricade any movement of the opponent by building a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The competitor’s chips will either get bumped, or result a battered position if he ever tries to escape the wall. The trap of the prime can be setup anywhere between point 2 and point 11 in your half of the board. As soon as you have successfully constructed the prime to block the movement of your competitor, the opponent doesn’t even get to toss the dice, and you shift your checkers and roll the dice again. You will win the game for sure.
The Back Game Tactic
The goals of the Back Game plan and the Blocking Game tactic are similar – to hinder your competitor’s positions with hope to improve your chances of succeeding, but the Back Game plan utilizes alternate techniques to do that. The Back Game strategy is commonly employed when you are far behind your opponent. To play Backgammon with this technique, you have to control 2 or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single checker) late in the game. This strategy is more challenging than others to use in Backgammon seeing as it requires careful movement of your chips and how the pieces are moved is partially the outcome of the dice roll.