Archive for April 25th, 2016

Backgammon – 3 Main Strategies

Posted in Backgammon on 04/25/2016 11:21 am by Zaire
[ English ]

In extraordinarily general terms, there are three general plans employed. You need to be able to hop between techniques instantly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This comprises of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you might manage, to barricade in your competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable procedure at the start of the match. You can assemble the wall anywhere within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.

The Blitz

This involves locking your home board as quick as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your opponent tosses an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play six/one 6/1 eight/three eight/three. Your opposer is now in big-time difficulty since they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your home board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have 2 or higher pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at least 2 of your checkers.) It would be employed when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest locations for anchor spots are close to your opponent’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your opposer is getting their checkers home, because you don’t have any other additional checkers to shift! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a wonderful idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!