Backgammon – Three General Plans
Posted in Backgammon on 01/30/2020 04:25 pm by Zaire
In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 main plans employed. You must be agile enough to switch techniques quickly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of assembling a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you are able to manage, to block in your opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your opposer tosses an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 8/3 eight/three. Your opposer is then in serious trouble seeing that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a point occupied by at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It should be played when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The best areas for anchor spots are towards your opponent’s lower points and either on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is crucial for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, 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 down this straight away, while your opposer is getting their checkers home, considering that you don’t have other additional pieces to shift! In this situation, it is better to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position up until your competitor gives you an opportunity to hit, so it may be an excellent idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!