Backgammon Information

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In extraordinarily general terms, there are three main techniques employed. You need to be agile enough to hop between techniques quickly as the action of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This involves building a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you can achieve, to block in your competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable strategy at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anyplace inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the game progresses.

The Blitz

This consists of closing your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your competitor on the bar. For example, if your challenger rolls an early 2 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 challenger is now in serious dire straits seeing that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!

The Backgame

This strategy is where you have 2 or higher checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at a minimum two of your pieces.) It should be employed when you are decidedly behind as this action greatly improves your opportunities. The better areas for anchor spots are near your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is essential for a competent backgame: after all, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break apart this right away, while your opposer is moving their pieces home, seeing that you don’t have any other extra checkers to move! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position up until your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opposer to get them in this case!