Backgammon – Three Basic Plans

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In extraordinarily general terms, there are 3 main game plans employed. You want to be able to switch techniques instantly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This is comprised of assembling a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you can manage, to lock in your opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most adequate strategy at the start of the match. You can build the wall anyplace within your 11-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game progresses.

The Blitz

This consists of locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your opponent rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you can play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your challenger is then in serious difficulty due to the fact that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your home board!

The Backgame

This strategy is where you have two or more pieces in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor is a position occupied by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are decidedly behind as this plan greatly improves your opportunities. The better places for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for a powerful backgame: besides, there’s no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break up this straight away, while your competitor is shifting their checkers home, considering that you don’t have other spare pieces to move! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to attempt and get your challenger to get them in this situation!