Backgammon – Three General Techniques

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In astonishingly general terms, there are three general strategies employed. You want to be agile enough to switch tactics almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This comprises of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you are able to achieve, to lock in the opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable strategy at the start of the match. You can assemble the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match continues.

The Blitz

This consists of locking your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. For example, if your opponent tosses an early two and moves one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is then in serious calamity seeing that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have two or higher anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at a minimum two of your checkers.) It must be employed when you are extremely behind as this action greatly improves your chances. The best locations for anchors are near your competitor’s lower points and also on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is integral for a competent backgame: besides, there’s no reason having 2 nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break down this straight away, while your competitor is getting their pieces home, because you do not have any other spare checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your challenger provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a great idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this case!