Backgammon – Three General Plans
Posted in Backgammon on 01/26/2016 02:21 am by Lillie
In astonishingly simple terms, there are three main strategies employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between tactics instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you can achieve, to block in your competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate procedure at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the match progresses.
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 challenger rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you are able to play 6/1 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your competitor is now in serious difficulty because they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or more pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be used when you are significantly behind as this plan greatly improves your chances. The best locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is essential for a powerful backgame: after all, there is no reason having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this straight away, while your opponent is moving their checkers home, owing to the fact that you do not have other spare checkers to move! In this case, it is better to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your opponent gives you a chance to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to try and get your challenger to get them in this case!