Backgammon strategy question

GulBara · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 19

I’m pretty new to playing backgammon and I have been trying to figure something out for a while now, since I started. I am always hearing about the strategy of building a strong backgame and placing anchors and blockades in and around your opponent’s home board. My question is, how is it possible to do this? At the start of the game each player only has two checkers in his opponent’s home board so how is it possible to create blockades or even multiple anchors? Is there something I’m missing here?

NulloPlay · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 11

Your question actually points out one of the main difficulties in building a strong backgame—getting the checkers that you need into your opponent’s side of the board. The way to bring checkers in to build your backgame is to be hit by your opponent. Once you are sent back to the bar you have a perfect opening for building anchors in your opponent’s home board and out board.

Some players use the backgame approach as a strategy only when their opponent has hit a few of their checkers to the bar and they need to find a way to hinder their opponent’s game while they get back in the game. Other players use backgaming as their main strategy and leave checkers intentionally unprotected as blots around the board so that their opponent will unknowingly hit them and set themselves up for an opposing backgame.

However, if you are a player that likes to rely on backgame strategy be careful—if you aren’t careful it will be obvious that you are leaving blots around the board intentionally and your opponent will do all that he or she can to avoid hitting you and to keep you from their homeboard.

A lot of people have trouble winning with backgame strategy. It can be difficult because it counts on you having checkers in your opponent’s home board and out board, far from your own home board and the end of the game. A good method is to create a six-point backgammon prime in your own home board that you can use to block an opposing checker that you hit with your backgame. This will give you time to bring in your remaining checkers that you had been using for your backgame. Just hope that your opponent hasn’t blocked you in as well!