In very general terms, there are 3 chief game plans used. You must be agile enough to switch game plans quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you might achieve, to block in your opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most adequate strategy at the start of the match. You can create the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opposer on the bar. i.e., if your challenger tosses an early 2 and moves one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your opposer is now in serious calamity seeing that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have two or more anchors in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum two of your checkers.) It would be employed when you are significantly behind as it much improves your circumstances. The strongest areas for anchors are towards your opponent’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is critical for an effectual backgame: after all, there is no reason having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your competitor is shifting their checkers home, because you do not have other extra pieces to shift! In this case, it is more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might maintain your position up until your opposer gives you a chance to hit, so it may be a great idea to attempt and get your opponent to hit them in this case!
This entry was posted on October 22, 2018, 4:27 pm and is filed under Backgammon. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.