Archive for April 12th, 2016

Backgammon – 3 Basic Plans

Posted in Backgammon on 04/12/2016 11:21 am by Madisyn
[ English ]

In very general terms, there are three main strategies employed. You must be able to switch strategies almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This involves assembling a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you might manage, to block in your competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable course of action at the start of the match. You can create the wall anyplace between your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match advances.

The Blitz

This involves locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. For example, if your competitor tosses an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your opponent is then in serious difficulty due to the fact that they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!

The Backgame

This plan is where you have 2 or higher checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be used when you are decidedly behind as this plan greatly improves your opportunities. The better places for anchor spots are towards your opponent’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is essential 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 inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this right away, while your opposer is moving their pieces home, taking into account that you do not have any other additional pieces to move! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position up till your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this situation!