Backgammon – 3 Basic Plans

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In very simple terms, there are three chief tactics used. You want to be agile enough to hop between tactics almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This comprises of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you can manage, to barricade in your competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable procedure at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anyplace between your 11-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the game continues.

The Blitz

This involves locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your opposer tosses an early 2 and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your opponent is now in big-time trouble considering that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have two or higher checkers in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a point consisting of at least 2 of your pieces.) It must be used when you are extremely behind as this plan greatly improves your circumstances. The best areas for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is crucial for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this right away, while your competitor is shifting their pieces home, seeing that you don’t have any other additional checkers to move! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your challenger provides you a chance to hit, so it will be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opposer to hit them in this situation!