In extraordinarily simple terms, there are 3 main tactics employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between game plans almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you might achieve, to lock in the competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most acceptable course of action at the start of the game. You can create the wall anyplace within your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This consists of closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is now in big-time trouble taking into account that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or more pieces in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be played when you are decidedly behind as this action greatly improves your circumstances. The best areas for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with one point in between. Timing is integral for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your competitor is getting their pieces home, because you don’t have any other spare checkers to move! In this case, it is better to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your competitor provides you a chance to hit, so it may be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opponent to get them in this situation!
0 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
You must be logged in to post a comment.