Backgammon – Three Basic Strategies
In extraordinarily simple terms, there are 3 fundamental game plans used. You must be agile enough to hop between game plans almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least 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 tactic at the start of the game. You can build the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This consists of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your competitor tosses an early 2 and shifts one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your competitor is then in serious difficulty considering that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more anchors in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor is a point filled by at least 2 of your pieces.) It would be employed when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest places for anchors are close to your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjoining points or with a single point separating them. Timing is crucial for a competent backgame: besides, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to dismantle this straight away, while your opposer is moving their checkers home, owing to the fact that you don’t have other extra pieces to move! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up until your opposer gives you a chance to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!
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