Backgammon – Three Main Techniques
Friday, 26. January 2024
In very general terms, there are three chief tactics employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between strategies quickly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you might manage, to block in your competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable procedure at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This consists of locking your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your opposer tosses an early 2 and moves one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your opposer is now in serious trouble considering that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or more checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a point occupied by at a minimum two of your pieces.) It must be employed when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The best areas for anchors are near your opponent’s lower points and also on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is critical for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there is no reason having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break down this right away, while your opposer is getting their pieces home, taking into account that you don’t have any other additional checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you might preserve your position until your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a great idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!
Posted in Backgammon by Jada