Backgammon

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In very general terms, there are 3 general strategies employed. You must be able to hop between tactics quickly as the action of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This is composed of assembling a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can achieve, to barricade in the opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace within your 11-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match continues.

The Blitz

This involves closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your opposer tosses an early two and moves one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you are able to play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is now in serious difficulty because they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!

The Backgame

This tactic is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position filled by at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It would be used when you are significantly behind as it much improves your circumstances. The better locations for anchors are towards your competitor’s smaller points and either on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is integral for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this right away, while your opposer is moving their pieces home, taking into account that you don’t have any other additional pieces to move! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up till your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it will be a great idea to attempt and get your opponent to get them in this case!