Backgammon All About Backgammon

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In very general terms, there are three general plans employed. You must be agile enough to switch strategies quickly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This consists of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you might manage, to barricade in the opponent's pieces that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate course of action at the begining of the game. You can build the wall anyplace between your 11-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match continues.

The Blitz

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

The Backgame

This plan is where you have two or higher anchors in your competitor's home board. (An anchor spot is a point occupied by at a minimum two of your checkers.) It would be used when you are extremely behind as this action much improves your circumstances. The best locations for anchor spots are near your opponent's smaller points and also on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is integral for an effective backgame: besides, there is no reason having two nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break up this straight away, while your competitor is moving their checkers home, seeing that you do not have any other extra checkers to move! In this case, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position until your challenger provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your challenger to get them in this case!