Backgammon – 3 General Plans
In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 fundamental plans employed. You want to be able to hop between tactics almost instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of assembling a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you can manage, to lock in your competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anyplace between your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quick as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early two and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play six/one six/one eight/three 8/3. Your competitor is now in serious dire straits since they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or higher checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point occupied by at least 2 of your checkers.) It must be played when you are extremely behind as it much improves your circumstances. The best areas for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with a single point separating them. Timing is critical for a powerful backgame: besides, there is no point having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break apart this right away, while your opposer is moving their pieces home, considering that you do not have any other additional pieces to move! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position up until your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!
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