Posted by Nadia | Posted in Backgammon | Posted on 09-03-2023
In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 basic game plans employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between strategies almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can manage, to lock in the competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable course of action at the start of the match. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game advances.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. i.e., if your opponent rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you will be able to play six/one 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your challenger is then in serious difficulty because they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or higher checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at least 2 of your pieces.) It must be used when you are extremely behind as this strategy much improves your chances. The strongest places for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s lower points and also on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is important for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break apart this right away, while your competitor is moving their pieces home, taking into account that you do not have other spare checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position up till your opponent gives you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to attempt and get your opposer to hit them in this situation!