08.13
Backgammon – 3 Basic Schemes
In exceptionally general terms, there are 3 chief strategies employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between tactics quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This involves building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you can achieve, to lock in your opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere within your eleven-point and your two-point and then move it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is comprised of closing your home board as fast as possible while keeping your opponent on the bar. For example, if your challenger tosses an early 2 and shifts one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your opponent is now in big-time dire straits because they have two checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have two or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at least two of your checkers.) It needs to be used when you are extremely behind as it much improves your chances. The best locations for anchor spots are close to your opponent’s lower points and also on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for an effectual backgame: besides, there is no point having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your opposer is getting their checkers home, seeing that you don’t have any other additional pieces to shift! In this case, it is more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your opposer provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a great idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this case!