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Backgammon – Three Basic Techniques
April 30th, 2022 by Claudia

In very simple terms, there are 3 fundamental game plans used. You need to be agile enough to hop between strategies quickly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This is comprised of assembling a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can manage, to lock in the competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate tactic at the start of the match. You can build the wall anyplace within your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game advances.

The Blitz

This is comprised of closing your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your opponent tosses an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your challenger is now in big-time difficulty considering 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 checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor is a point consisting of at least 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The better places for anchors are close to your competitor’s lower points and either on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is critical for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break up this straight away, while your challenger is moving their checkers home, because you do not have any other spare checkers to move! In this case, it’s better to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up till your opponent provides you an opportunity 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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