The Basics of Backgammon Tactics – Part 2
Posted in Backgammon on 03/28/2026 11:25 pm by Zaire
As we have dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a game of skill and pure luck. The goal is to move your pieces safely around the board to your inner board and at the same time your opposition shifts their chips toward their home board in the opposite direction. With opposing player chips shifting in opposing directions there is bound to be conflict and the need for particular strategies at specific times. Here are the last 2 Backgammon tactics to complete your game.
The Priming Game Tactic
If the aim of the blocking tactic is to slow down the opponent to shift her pieces, the Priming Game strategy is to completely barricade any activity of the opponent by constructing a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The competitor’s checkers will either get hit, or end up in a bad position if he at all attempts to escape the wall. The trap of the prime can be established anyplace between point 2 and point 11 in your half of the board. Once you have successfully assembled the prime to prevent the activity of the opponent, your competitor does not even get to roll the dice, that means you move your checkers and toss the dice again. You will be a winner for sure.
The Back Game Strategy
The objectives of the Back Game tactic and the Blocking Game plan are very similar – to hurt your competitor’s positions with hope to better your odds of succeeding, but the Back Game technique utilizes seperate tactics to achieve that. The Back Game tactic is generally employed when you are far behind your opponent. To play Backgammon with this technique, you have to control two or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single piece) late in the game. This technique is more complex than others to use in Backgammon because it requires careful movement of your checkers and how the pieces are relocated is partially the result of the dice toss.