Backgammon – Three Basic Techniques
In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 chief tactics employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between strategies instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you might manage, to barricade in the competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anyplace within your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opposer 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 will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your opposer is then in serious trouble seeing that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or more anchors in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position filled by at least 2 of your checkers.) It should be employed when you are extremely behind as this action greatly improves your circumstances. The better locations for anchors are near your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for a competent backgame: after all, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this right away, while your challenger is shifting their pieces home, owing to the fact that you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up until your competitor gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a great idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!