Backgammon – Three Main Plans
by Karla on Friday, July 30th, 2021
In exceptionally general terms, there are three basic plans employed. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of assembling a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you can achieve, to block in the opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable procedure at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your 11-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as quick as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. For example, if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you are able to play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your competitor is then in big-time trouble due to the fact that they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or more anchors in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a position filled by at a minimum two of your checkers.) It would be used when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The better areas for anchors are near your opponent’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is crucial for a competent backgame: after all, 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 straight away, while your competitor is moving their pieces home, taking into account that you don’t have any other additional pieces to move! In this case, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position up until your opponent gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a good idea to attempt and get your opposer to get them in this situation!
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