Backgammon Strategies

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In astonishingly simple terms, there are 3 fundamental techniques used. You want to be agile enough to switch strategies quickly as the action of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This consists of assembling a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as deep as you can achieve, to lock in your opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable strategy at the start of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match progresses.

The Blitz

This involves closing your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. For example, if your opponent rolls an early 2 and shifts one piece from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play six/one 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your challenger is then in serious calamity because they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!

The Backgame

This tactic is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a point filled by at a minimum two of your checkers.) It must be played when you are extremely behind as it much improves your chances. The strongest areas for anchors are close to your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with a single point in between. Timing is integral for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break apart this right away, while your opposer is shifting their pieces home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a great idea to attempt and get your opposer to hit them in this case!

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Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

As we have dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a game of talent and luck. The goal is to shift your chips safely around the board to your inside board while at the same time your opponent shifts their chips toward their home board in the opposing direction. With competing player chips heading in opposite directions there is bound to be conflict and the requirement for particular techniques at particular instances. Here are the last two Backgammon plans to round out your game.

The Priming Game Tactic

If the goal of the blocking tactic is to hamper the opponents ability to move their pieces, the Priming Game strategy is to completely stop any movement of the opponent by building a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The opponent’s chips will either get bumped, or end up in a battered position if she at all tries to leave the wall. The ambush of the prime can be setup anywhere between point 2 and point 11 in your board. After you have successfully assembled the prime to stop the activity of your competitor, your competitor does not even get a chance to toss the dice, and you move your checkers and roll the dice again. You will be a winner for sure.

The Back Game Tactic

The goals of the Back Game technique and the Blocking Game plan are similar – to hinder your competitor’s positions with hope to boost your odds of succeeding, however the Back Game strategy utilizes seperate techniques to do that. The Back Game strategy is generally utilized when you are far behind your competitor. To participate in Backgammon with this tactic, you have to control 2 or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single piece) late in the game. This technique is more difficult than others to play in Backgammon seeing as it requires careful movement of your pieces and how the chips are relocated is partly the result of the dice roll.