Backgammon – Three General Techniques
In exceptionally general terms, there are three chief techniques employed. You need to be able to switch game plans almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of assembling a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you might achieve, to barricade in your competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable strategy at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in big-time difficulty considering that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have 2 or more anchors in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at least two of your pieces.) It would be used when you are extremely behind as this action greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest places for anchors are towards your opponent’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is important for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this right away, while your challenger is getting their checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have other extra checkers to shift! In this case, it is more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your opponent gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this situation!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.

