Backgammon All About Backgammon

Read more about the
Las Vegas 2024 Super
Bowl Streaker!

In extraordinarily general terms, there are 3 chief techniques employed. You need to be agile enough to hop between strategies instantly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This involves assembling a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at least as deep as you are able to manage, to lock in your opponent's pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable procedure at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match progresses.

The Blitz

This is comprised of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your opponent tosses an early 2 and moves one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you are able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is now in big-time calamity since they have two checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have two or more checkers in your opponent's home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at a minimum two of your pieces.) It should be used when you are significantly behind as this strategy much improves your opportunities. The better areas for anchor spots are close to your opponent's smaller points and either on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is essential for a powerful backgame: after all, there's no reason having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to break up this straight away, while your opponent is shifting their pieces home, seeing that you do not have other additional checkers to shift! In this situation, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this case!