Backgammon – Three Basic Techniques
Posted in Backgammon on 09/22/2015 05:21 pm by Zaire
In astonishingly general terms, there are three chief game plans employed. You want to be agile enough to switch strategies instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you might manage, to lock in the opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable procedure at the start of the match. You can assemble the wall anyplace between your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your opposer tosses an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your opponent is then in big-time dire straits considering that they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or more anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point occupied by at least 2 of your pieces.) It should be employed when you are extremely behind as this plan greatly improves your chances. The strongest places for anchors are near your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with a single point in between. Timing is essential for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your competitor is moving their checkers home, taking into account that you do not have any other additional pieces to shift! In this case, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your competitor provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!