Backgammon – Three General Plans
In astonishingly simple terms, there are 3 main techniques employed. You need to be able to switch tactics almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you might manage, to lock in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate course of action at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your opposer rolls an early two and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your opposer is now in serious dire straits seeing that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your home board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or higher pieces in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a point consisting of at least two of your pieces.) It would be used when you are significantly behind as this strategy much improves your chances. The better areas for anchors are near your competitor’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is integral for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break apart this straight away, while your opponent is getting their pieces home, owing to the fact that you don’t have other additional checkers to shift! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your challenger gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!