Backgammon – 3 Basic Plans
Posted in Backgammon on 02/27/2026 12:25 am by LillieIn extraordinarily general terms, there are three general game plans used. You must be agile enough to hop between techniques quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of assembling a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as deep as you can manage, to lock in the competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate tactic at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This consists of closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your opposer rolls an early two and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 6/1 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is then in serious calamity considering that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or higher checkers in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at least two of your checkers.) It must be played when you are decidedly behind as this plan much improves your opportunities. The best places for anchors are close to your competitor’s lower points and either on adjoining points or with a single point separating them. Timing is integral for a competent backgame: after all, there’s no point having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your competitor is shifting their checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have any other additional checkers to move! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position up till your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a good idea to try and get your opposer to get them in this case!
