Backgammon – 3 General Plans
In extraordinarily general terms, there are three fundamental strategies used. You must be agile enough to switch techniques quickly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves assembling a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you can achieve, to block in the competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most suitable procedure at the start of the game. You can create the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This consists of locking your home board as quick as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. For example, if your competitor rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your opponent is then in big-time difficulty due to the fact that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a point consisting of at least two of your pieces.) It would be used when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest places for anchor spots are near your competitor’s lower points and either on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break down this right away, while your opponent is shifting their checkers home, taking into account that you don’t have any other extra pieces to shift! In this case, it is more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your opponent gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be an excellent idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this case!
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