Backgammon Strategy for Beginners

admin · Site Admin Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 847

If you are new to the game of backgammon, you are probably focusing on getting all your checkers to your home board as safely as you can and hitting your opponent at every opportunity. This is normal behavior for backgammon beginners. However, once you learn a bit of backgammon strategy you'll see that there is much more to the game and your game will improve tenfold.

The first rule of backgammon strategy is to be bold! Make safe moves all the time and you’ll never get all of your checkers borne off before your opponent. Don't be afraid to leave checkers exposed early in the game in order to get ahead.

Aside from getting all your checkers to your home board, the other objective of backgammon is to make it as hard as possible for your opponent to reach his home board. Many beginners think that the best backgammon strategy for this is to hit opposing blots as often as you can. This actually isn't always advantageous - for example, if you have exposed checkers within your first twelve points it is entirely possible for your opponent to re-enter the game and hit you right back! Always make sure that a hit is to your advantage before you make the move. In fact, you should check your opponent's position before you make any move to make sure you are not setting a trap for yourself.

Once you feel comfortable with these basic concepts you will be ready for more advanced backgammon strategy.