Backgammon – 3 Basic Strategies
Posted in Backgammon on 08/15/2020 07:25 am by Zaire
In very general terms, there are three basic game plans employed. You want to be able to hop between techniques almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of assembling a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you are able to manage, to lock in the competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most adequate strategy at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This is comprised of closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your competitor rolls an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you are able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your opponent is then in serious calamity considering that they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or more pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be employed when you are decidedly behind as this action much improves your chances. The better locations for anchors are near your opponent’s lower points and either on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break up this straight away, while your opposer is shifting their pieces home, because you don’t have any other additional checkers to shift! In this situation, it’s better to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it may be a good idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!