In extraordinarily simple terms, there are three general tactics used. You must be agile enough to switch tactics quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of building a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you can manage, to block in your opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere within your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the match continues.
The Blitz
This consists of locking your home board as fast as as you can while keeping your opponent on the bar. e.g., if your challenger rolls an early two and shifts one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is then in big-time trouble since they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your home board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have 2 or higher checkers in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at least 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be played when you are significantly behind as this plan greatly improves your circumstances. The strongest places for anchors are close to your opponent’s lower points and either on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is integral for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then forced to dismantle this straight away, while your opposer is moving their checkers home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other extra pieces to shift! In this situation, it is more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position until your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this case!
This entry was posted on January 10, 2020, 12:25 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.