The Basics of Backgammon Tactics – Part Two
Posted in Backgammon on 03/10/2021 10:25 am by Lillie
As we dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a game of talent and luck. The aim is to shift your chips safely around the board to your inner board and at the same time your opposing player moves their chips toward their inner board in the opposing direction. With competing player chips moving in opposite directions there is going to be conflict and the need for specific strategies at specific times. Here are the last 2 Backgammon plans to complete your game.
The Priming Game Plan
If the aim of the blocking strategy is to slow down the opponent to shift his pieces, the Priming Game tactic is to completely block any movement of the opponent by creating a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The competitor’s chips will either get bumped, or end up in a bad position if he/she ever tries to leave the wall. The ambush of the prime can be built anywhere between point 2 and point 11 in your board. Once you’ve successfully constructed the prime to block the movement of the competitor, your opponent does not even get a chance to roll the dice, that means you move your chips and toss the dice again. You will win the game for sure.
The Back Game Strategy
The goals of the Back Game strategy and the Blocking Game strategy are very similar – to harm your competitor’s positions hoping to boost your odds of winning, however the Back Game plan relies on different tactics to achieve that. The Back Game technique is commonly employed when you are far behind your competitor. To participate in Backgammon with this strategy, you need to hold 2 or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single checker) late in the game. This strategy is more difficult than others to use in Backgammon seeing as it needs careful movement of your pieces and how the checkers are moved is partly the result of the dice roll.