Backgammon – 3 Main Strategies

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In extraordinarily general terms, there are three general game plans used. You need to be able to hop between techniques quickly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This involves building a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you might achieve, to lock in the opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable strategy at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.

The Blitz

This consists of closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. For example, if your opponent rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play six/one 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your challenger is now in serious calamity taking into account that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!

The Backgame

This tactic is where you have two or more checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at least two of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are extremely behind as it much improves your circumstances. The strongest locations for anchors are towards your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is important for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having 2 nice anchors and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break down this right away, while your opposer is moving their checkers home, seeing that you do not have any other spare checkers to shift! In this case, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up until your opposer gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a great idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this case!