Archive for March 18th, 2016

The Essential Basics of Backgammon Tactics – Part Two

Posted in Backgammon on 03/18/2016 01:21 pm by Zaire

As we have dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a casino game of skill and good luck. The goal is to shift your chips carefully around the board to your inside board and at the same time your opposition moves their pieces toward their inside board in the opposite direction. With competing player checkers heading in opposite directions there is bound to be conflict and the need for particular strategies at specific times. Here are the two final Backgammon strategies to round out your game.

The Priming Game Plan

If the goal of the blocking plan is to slow down the opponent to move his pieces, the Priming Game tactic is to completely block any activity of the opposing player by creating a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The opponent’s chips will either get bumped, or end up in a bad position if he at all tries to leave the wall. The ambush of the prime can be setup anyplace between point 2 and point 11 in your game board. After you’ve successfully constructed the prime to prevent the activity of your competitor, your opponent does not even get a chance to roll the dice, that means you shift your pieces and roll the dice yet again. You will be a winner for sure.

The Back Game Plan

The goals of the Back Game plan and the Blocking Game tactic are very similar – to harm your opponent’s positions hoping to improve your odds of succeeding, but the Back Game tactic utilizes alternate techniques to do that. The Back Game tactic is generally utilized when you are far behind your competitor. To play Backgammon with this plan, you have to hold 2 or more points in table, and to hit a blot late in the game. This strategy is more complex than others to play in Backgammon seeing as it requires careful movement of your chips and how the chips are relocated is partly the result of the dice roll.

 

Backgammon – 3 Basic Techniques

Posted in Backgammon on 03/18/2016 02:21 am by Zaire

In astonishingly general terms, there are three general techniques employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between strategies quickly as the action of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This is comprised of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you might manage, to block in the opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable procedure at the start of the game. You can build the wall anyplace inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game progresses.

The Blitz

This consists of closing your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your opponent tosses an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play six/one 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your opponent is then in big-time dire straits taking into account that they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!

The Backgame

This tactic is where you have two or more checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at least 2 of your checkers.) It would be played when you are extremely behind as it much improves your opportunities. The best places for anchor spots are towards your opponent’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is critical for a powerful backgame: besides, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break up this right away, while your competitor is shifting their checkers home, considering that you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this case, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position up until your opposer gives you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your competitor to get them in this case!