In extraordinarily general terms, there are three basic techniques employed. You need to be agile enough to hop between strategies almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of assembling a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you can achieve, to barricade in the opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most acceptable course of action at the start of the match. You can build the wall anyplace inbetween 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 quickly as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. i.e., if your opponent tosses an early two and shifts one piece from your one-point to your 3-point and you then toss a five-five, you are able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your competitor is then in serious difficulty considering that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have 2 or more pieces in your opponent’s inner board. (An anchor is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It must be used when you are extremely behind as this action much improves your opportunities. The strongest locations for anchors are towards your opponent’s smaller points and also on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is crucial for a powerful backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to dismantle this right away, while your competitor is shifting their pieces home, considering that you don’t have any other extra pieces to move! In this case, it is more favorable to have checkers on the bar so that you can preserve your position up until your opponent provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to attempt and get your opposer to hit them in this situation!
This entry was posted on September 22, 2022, 1:25 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.