As we have dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a game of talent and luck. The goal is to shift your pieces carefully around the game board to your inner board and at the same time your opposition moves their chips toward their inside board in the opposing direction. With competing player checkers heading in opposite directions there is going to be conflict and the need for specific techniques at specific times. Here are the 2 final Backgammon strategies to round out your game.

The Priming Game Plan

If the aim of the blocking strategy is to slow down the opponent to move their pieces, the Priming Game strategy is to completely stop any activity of the opponent by creating a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The competitor’s chips will either get bumped, or end up in a bad position if she at all tries to escape the wall. The ambush of the prime can be setup anywhere between point two and point 11 in your half of the board. After you have successfully assembled the prime to block the movement of your competitor, the competitor does not even get to roll the dice, and you move your pieces and toss the dice again. You’ll be a winner for sure.

The Back Game Strategy

The objectives of the Back Game plan and the Blocking Game tactic are similar – to hurt your competitor’s positions with hope to improve your chances of winning, however the Back Game strategy utilizes seperate tactics to achieve that. The Back Game strategy is often used when you are far behind your opponent. To play Backgammon with this plan, you need to control two or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single checker) late in the game. This strategy is more challenging than others to play in Backgammon seeing as it requires careful movement of your pieces and how the chips are relocated is partially the outcome of the dice toss.