The Essential Basics of Backgammon Tactics – Part 2

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As we dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a game of talent and pure luck. The goal is to shift your pieces carefully around the board to your inside board and at the same time your opposing player shifts their chips toward their home board in the opposing direction. With opposing player pieces shifting in opposite directions there is going to be conflict and the need for specific strategies at particular instances. Here are the 2 final Backgammon strategies to finish off your game.

The Priming Game Plan

If the purpose of the blocking tactic is to slow down the opponent to shift his chips, the Priming Game strategy is to absolutely block any activity of the opposing player by constructing a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The opponent’s pieces will either get hit, or end up in a battered position if she ever tries to leave the wall. The trap of the prime can be setup anywhere between point 2 and point 11 in your half of the board. Once you have successfully built the prime to block the activity of your opponent, your opponent does not even get a chance to toss the dice, and you move your chips and toss the dice again. You’ll win the game for sure.

The Back Game Technique

The goals of the Back Game strategy and the Blocking Game plan are very similar – to hinder your competitor’s positions in hope to better your chances of succeeding, however the Back Game plan relies on seperate techniques to achieve that. The Back Game technique is generally employed when you’re far behind your competitor. To participate in Backgammon with this technique, you have to hold two or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single checker) late in the game. This strategy is more complex than others to use in Backgammon seeing as it needs careful movement of your chips and how the checkers are moved is partially the outcome of the dice roll.