Backgammon – Three General Plans
Friday, 19. March 2021
In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 chief tactics employed. You must be agile enough to switch game plans instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of building a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can manage, to barricade in your opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most adequate procedure at the start of the match. You can create the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quick as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your challenger tosses an early two and shifts one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 8/3 eight/three. Your challenger is then in serious dire straits taking into account that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position filled by at least two of your pieces.) It needs to be used when you are decidedly behind as it much improves your chances. The better locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjoining points or with a single point in between. Timing is integral for an effectual 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 forced to break down this right away, while your competitor is getting their checkers home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other spare checkers to shift! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up till your opponent gives you a chance to hit, so it will be a good idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!
Posted in Backgammon by Jada