Backgammon – Three General Schemes

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In extraordinarily general terms, there are three fundamental tactics used. You must be agile enough to hop between tactics almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This consists of assembling a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to manage, to lock in your competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the game progresses.

The Blitz

This involves closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your opponent tosses an early two and moves one piece from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play six/one 6/1 8/3 eight/three. Your opponent is then in big-time trouble because they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have 2 or more pieces in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a position occupied by at a minimum two of your checkers.) It needs to be employed when you are decidedly behind as it much improves your circumstances. The best places for anchors are towards your competitor’s smaller points and either on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is crucial for a powerful backgame: besides, there is no point having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break up this right away, while your challenger is moving their pieces home, seeing that you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it is better to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your challenger provides you a chance to hit, so it will be a great idea to attempt and get your opposer to get them in this case!