The Essential Basics of Backgammon Game Plans – Part Two

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As we dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a game of talent and luck. The goal is to move your chips carefully around the board to your home board while at the same time your opposing player shifts their chips toward their inner board in the opposite direction. With competing player pieces shifting in opposing directions there is bound to be conflict and the requirement for specific techniques at particular instances. Here are the last 2 Backgammon techniques to round out your game.

The Priming Game Tactic

If the goal of the blocking plan is to slow down the opponent to shift her checkers, the Priming Game strategy is to completely barricade any activity of the opposing player by constructing a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The opponent’s chips will either get hit, or end up in a battered position if he ever tries to escape the wall. The ambush of the prime can be built anyplace between point two and point 11 in your half of the board. As soon as you have successfully built the prime to prevent the movement of your competitor, your opponent does not even get to roll the dice, and you shift your chips and roll the dice yet again. You will win the game for sure.

The Back Game Plan

The aims of the Back Game plan and the Blocking Game tactic are similar – to hinder your opponent’s positions with hope to better your odds of winning, however the Back Game technique uses alternate techniques to do that. The Back Game tactic is commonly used when you’re far behind your competitor. To compete in Backgammon with this plan, you have to hold 2 or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single piece) late in the game. This technique is more difficult than others to play in Backgammon because it needs careful movement of your checkers and how the checkers are moved is partly the result of the dice roll.