Backgammon – Three General Strategies
In exceptionally general terms, there are three basic game plans employed. You must be agile enough to hop between techniques quickly as the course of the game 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 the opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable procedure at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace inbetween your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This is composed of closing your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your competitor rolls an early 2 and shifts one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play 6/1 six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your challenger is then in serious calamity because they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a point filled by at least two of your pieces.) It must be employed when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your chances. The better locations for anchor spots are towards your opponent’s lower points and also on abutting points or with one point in between. Timing is integral for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your competitor is getting their checkers home, considering that you do not have any other extra pieces to shift! In this case, it’s better to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position until your competitor provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to try and get your opponent to get them in this situation!