Backgammon – Three General Strategies
by Erin on Thursday, October 31st, 2019
In extraordinarily simple terms, there are 3 fundamental game plans employed. You want to be agile enough to switch strategies instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of building a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you are able to manage, to barricade in the opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the match. You can assemble the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your competitor tosses an early two and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you are able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your opponent is then in big-time trouble because they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a position occupied by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be played when you are decidedly behind as this action much improves your chances. The best places for anchor spots are close to your opponent’s lower points and either on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is important for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break apart this right away, while your competitor is getting their checkers home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other additional checkers to shift! In this case, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position up till your opposer provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a great idea to attempt and get your opponent to get them in this case!
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