Backgammon – 3 Basic Techniques
Posted in Backgammon on 07/25/2025 01:25 pm by Madisyn
In astonishingly simple terms, there are 3 fundamental plans employed. You want to be able to hop between game plans instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of building a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you can achieve, to barricade in the opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most acceptable tactic at the start of the match. You can build the wall anywhere inbetween your 11-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is comprised of locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your competitor rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your opponent is then in big-time dire straits 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 anchors in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It must be played when you are decidedly behind as it much improves your circumstances. The strongest places for anchors are near your opponent’s smaller points and also on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is critical for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this right away, while your opposer is moving their checkers home, because you don’t have other additional checkers to shift! In this situation, it is more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your opposer gives you a chance to hit, so it will be a good idea to attempt and get your opposer to hit them in this case!