Backgammon – 3 General Strategies

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In astonishingly general terms, there are three general techniques employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between techniques almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This consists of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as deep as you can manage, to lock in your competitor’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable tactic at the start of the game. You can create the wall anyplace within your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game advances.

The Blitz

This involves locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you are able to play six/one six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your opponent is then in serious trouble taking into account that they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!

The Backgame

This strategy is where you have 2 or more anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It should be used when you are decidedly behind as this action much improves your chances. The better places for anchors are near your competitor’s lower points and either on abutting points or with one point separating them. Timing is critical for a powerful backgame: after all, there’s no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this right away, while your opponent is moving their pieces home, because you do not have other spare checkers to move! In this case, it’s more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opponent to get them in this situation!