Backgammon

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In very simple terms, there are three fundamental techniques employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between tactics quickly as the action of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This is comprised of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to manage, to lock in the opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anyplace inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.

The Blitz

This is comprised of closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. For example, if your competitor tosses an early two and moves one piece from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your competitor is now in serious dire straits due to the fact that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your home board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have two or more checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum two of your checkers.) It must be used when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The best locations for anchor spots are near your competitor’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for an effectual backgame: besides, there’s no point having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break up this right away, while your challenger is shifting their checkers home, seeing that you do not have other spare checkers to shift! In this situation, it is better to have checkers on the bar so that you might preserve your position up until your opponent gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to try and get your challenger to hit them in this case!