In very general terms, there are 3 fundamental techniques employed. You must be agile enough to switch game plans instantly as the course of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of assembling a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at least as thick as you are able to manage, to barricade in your opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most acceptable strategy at the start of the game. You can build the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match advances.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. e.g., if your competitor rolls an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your competitor is now in serious difficulty because they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have 2 or more anchors in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at a minimum two of your pieces.) It must be employed when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The better locations for anchors are towards your competitor’s lower points and either on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is important for an effective backgame: besides, there is no point having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your opponent is moving their pieces home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other spare pieces to shift! In this case, it’s better to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position up till your competitor gives you a chance to hit, so it may be a great idea to try and get your opposer to hit them in this case!
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