Backgammon – 3 General Techniques

In extraordinarily simple terms, there are three fundamental strategies employed. You must be able to switch techniques almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This is composed of building a 6-deep wall of pieces, 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 suitable tactic at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game advances.

The Blitz

This involves closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your opposer tosses an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you are able to play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your challenger is then in serious trouble since they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!

The Backgame

This strategy is where you have two or higher checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a position occupied by at least two of your checkers.) It should be used when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest locations for anchor spots are near your opponent’s lower points and either on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is crucial for a competent backgame: after all, there’s no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this straight away, while your challenger is getting their checkers home, because you don’t have any other spare checkers to move! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up until your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a great idea to attempt and get your challenger to get them in this situation!

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