Backgammon – 3 Main Plans
Posted in Backgammon on 06/24/2021 03:25 am by Zaire
In astonishingly simple terms, there are 3 main plans used. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves assembling a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you might manage, to lock in the competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable procedure at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. e.g., if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in serious trouble because they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or higher pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a point occupied by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be used when you are extremely behind as this action much improves your circumstances. 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 critical for an effective backgame: besides, there is no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break down this right away, while your opponent is moving their checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have other extra pieces to shift! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position up until your competitor gives you a chance to hit, so it will be a good idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this case!