The Basics of Backgammon Tactics – Part Two

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As we dicussed in the previous article, Backgammon is a game of talent and luck. The goal is to move your chips carefully around the game board to your inside board while at the same time your opponent shifts their checkers toward their home board in the opposing direction. With competing player checkers moving in opposite directions there is going to be conflict and the requirement for specific techniques at specific times. Here are the last 2 Backgammon strategies to complete your game.

The Priming Game Plan

If the purpose of the blocking strategy is to slow down the opponent to shift his checkers, the Priming Game plan is to absolutely block any movement of the opponent by creating a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The competitor’s pieces will either get hit, or result a battered position if he/she at all attempts to escape the wall. The trap of the prime can be established anywhere between point 2 and point 11 in your game board. As soon as you have successfully assembled the prime to stop the activity of the competitor, your opponent does not even get a chance to toss the dice, and you move your chips and roll the dice yet again. You’ll win the game for sure.

The Back Game Plan

The objectives of the Back Game plan and the Blocking Game plan are very similar – to hinder your competitor’s positions with hope to boost your chances of winning, however the Back Game tactic uses different techniques to achieve that. The Back Game technique is often utilized when you’re far behind your competitor. To compete in Backgammon with this strategy, you have to control 2 or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single checker) late in the game. This strategy is more difficult than others to employ in Backgammon because it needs careful movement of your chips and how the chips are moved is partially the result of the dice roll.