Backgammon – Three General Strategies
Posted in Backgammon on 05/06/2020 07:25 pm by Lillie
In very general terms, there are 3 general strategies employed. You need to be agile enough to hop between strategies quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you are able to achieve, to barricade in the opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-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 challenger on the bar. For example, if your competitor tosses an early two and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you are able to play six/one 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your opponent is now in big-time calamity due to the fact that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or higher anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at a minimum two of your pieces.) It needs to be played when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your chances. The strongest areas for anchors are towards your opponent’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with a single point in between. Timing is essential for an effective backgame: after all, there’s no point having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break up this right away, while your opposer is getting their checkers home, seeing that you do not have any other spare pieces to shift! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position up until your challenger gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your competitor to get them in this case!