Backgammon – Three General Schemes
Posted in Backgammon on 02/08/2018 11:25 pm by LillieIn extraordinarily general terms, there are three general game plans employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between tactics almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you might manage, to lock in the opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate procedure at the start of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as quick as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. For example, if your competitor tosses an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is now in serious trouble seeing that they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or higher checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It must be employed when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your chances. The better locations for anchor spots are close to your opponent’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is critical for an effectual backgame: besides, there is no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to dismantle this straight away, while your opposer is getting their checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have other spare pieces to shift! In this case, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you might preserve your position until your opposer gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a good idea to attempt and get your opposer to get them in this situation!