Backgammon

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In astonishingly general terms, there are three fundamental game plans employed. You must be able to hop between techniques almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This involves building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you can achieve, to block in your competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-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 fast as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. i.e., if your challenger tosses an early 2 and shifts one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play six/one six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is then in serious difficulty since they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!

The Backgame

This plan is where you have 2 or more anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a point filled by at least two of your checkers.) It needs to be employed when you are significantly behind as this plan much improves your opportunities. The strongest areas for anchor spots are near your opponent’s smaller points and either on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is integral for an effectual backgame: after all, there’s no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your opposer is shifting their pieces home, taking into account that you do not have any other extra checkers to shift! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position up till your opposer provides you a chance to hit, so it may be an excellent idea to try and get your opposer to hit them in this situation!