2016
04.20
[ English ]

The aim of a Backgammon match is to shift your checkers around the game board and get those pieces off the game board quicker than your challenger who works harder to attempt the same buthowever they move in the opposite direction. Succeeding in a match of Backgammon requires both strategy and luck. Just how far you can shift your pieces is up to the numbers from rolling a pair of dice, and how you shift your chips are determined by your overall playing techniques. Enthusiasts use differing tactics in the different parts of a game dependent on your positions and opponent’s.

The Running Game Strategy

The goal of the Running Game tactic is to entice all your pieces into your inner board and bear them off as quick as you could. This tactic concentrates on the speed of advancing your pieces with no time spent to hit or block your competitor’s pieces. The best time to employ this plan is when you think you can shift your own chips faster than your opponent does: when 1) you have less pieces on the game board; 2) all your pieces have past your competitor’s chips; or 3) the opposing player does not use the hitting or blocking technique.

The Blocking Game Strategy

The main aim of the blocking strategy, by the name, is to block the competitor’s pieces, temporarily, while not fretting about shifting your checkers quickly. As soon as you’ve created the barrier for the competitor’s movement with a few pieces, you can shift your other chips rapidly off the board. The player will need to also have a clear strategy when to withdraw and shift the checkers that you used for blocking. The game gets intriguing when the opposition uses the same blocking tactic.

2016
04.20
[ English ]

As we dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a game of skill and pure luck. The aim is to shift your chips safely around the board to your inside board while at the same time your opponent shifts their checkers toward their inside board in the opposing 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 two Backgammon tactics to round out your game.

The Priming Game Plan

If the goal of the blocking plan is to slow down the opponent to move her checkers, the Priming Game strategy is to completely block any movement of the opposing player by constructing a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The opponent’s checkers will either get bumped, or end up in a bad position if he/she at all attempts to escape the wall. The ambush of the prime can be built anyplace between point two and point eleven in your half of the board. Once you’ve successfully assembled the prime to block the movement of your opponent, the opponent doesn’t even get a chance to toss the dice, that means you shift your pieces and roll the dice again. You will be a winner for sure.

The Back Game Strategy

The aims of the Back Game tactic and the Blocking Game plan are similar – to hinder your opponent’s positions with hope to boost your odds of winning, however the Back Game technique utilizes alternate techniques to achieve that. The Back Game strategy is often used when you are 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 piece) late in the game. This plan is more challenging than others to employ in Backgammon because it requires careful movement of your pieces and how the chips are moved is partly the result of the dice roll.