Backgammon – 3 General Schemes
In extraordinarily general terms, there are three basic techniques used. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies instantly as the action of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is comprised of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to manage, to block in your opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable strategy at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anywhere between your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your opposer tosses an early two and moves one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you can play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your opposer is then in big-time trouble because they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be played when you are extremely behind as this strategy much improves your opportunities. The better places for anchor spots are near your opponent’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with a single point in between. Timing is essential for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break apart this right away, while your challenger is shifting their pieces home, considering that you do not have any other spare checkers to shift! In this situation, it’s better to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position until your challenger gives you a chance to hit, so it can be a good idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this situation!
