In astonishingly simple terms, there are 3 basic tactics used. You need to be agile enough to hop between tactics almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of creating a 6-deep wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you are able to achieve, to block in your opponent’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the match. You can assemble the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your 2-point and then move it into your home board as the game progresses.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your opposer on the bar. For example, if your opponent rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a five-five, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three 8/3. Your opponent is then in big-time trouble taking into account that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or more pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position filled by at least two of your checkers.) It needs to be used when you are significantly behind as it much improves your circumstances. The strongest places for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with one point in between. Timing is critical for an effectual backgame: after all, there’s no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own inner board if you are then forced to dismantle this right away, while your challenger is shifting their pieces home, because you don’t have other additional pieces to shift! In this case, it is more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your opposer provides you a chance to hit, so it can be an excellent idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!
This entry was posted on October 19, 2019, 7:25 am 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.