Backgammon – Three General Techniques

September 9th, 2026 Wyatt Leave a comment Go to comments

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In extraordinarily general terms, there are 3 basic tactics employed. You must be able to hop between game plans almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.

The Blockade

This comprises of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as thick as you can manage, to barricade in the competitor’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.

The Blitz

This consists of locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. i.e., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play six/one six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your challenger is now in big-time trouble due to the fact that they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have two or higher pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a position occupied by at least 2 of your checkers.) It must be employed when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your chances. The best locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for an effective backgame: besides, there’s no reason having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break down this straight away, while your competitor is moving their checkers home, because you don’t have any other spare checkers to shift! In this situation, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your opposer provides you a chance to hit, so it will be a great idea to try and get your opponent to get them in this situation!

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