The Basics of Backgammon Tactics – Part 2

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As we dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a casino game of skill and luck. The goal is to shift your chips carefully around the game board to your home board while at the same time your opposition shifts their checkers toward their inner board in the opposing direction. With opposing player pieces heading in opposing directions there is bound to be conflict and the need for particular techniques at particular times. Here are the last two Backgammon techniques to finish off your game.

The Priming Game Tactic

If the goal of the blocking tactic is to slow down the opponent to move his chips, the Priming Game tactic is to absolutely barricade any activity of the opponent by constructing a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The opponent’s chips will either get bumped, or result a damaged position if he at all tries to escape the wall. The trap of the prime can be built anyplace between point two and point eleven in your half of the board. After you have successfully built the prime to prevent the movement of the competitor, the opponent doesn’t even get a chance to toss the dice, and you shift your pieces and toss the dice again. You’ll be a winner for sure.

The Back Game Plan

The aims of the Back Game strategy and the Blocking Game plan are similar – to hinder your opponent’s positions hoping to better your odds of succeeding, however the Back Game strategy utilizes different techniques to do that. The Back Game tactic is often utilized when you’re far behind your competitor. To play Backgammon with this strategy, you have to hold two or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single piece) late in the game. This strategy is more challenging than others to play in Backgammon because it requires careful movement of your chips and how the chips are relocated is partially the outcome of the dice toss.