As we dicussed in the last article, Backgammon is a casino game of ability and good luck. The goal is to move your checkers safely around the board to your inside board and at the same time your opposing player moves their pieces toward their home board in the opposite direction. With opposing player chips shifting in opposing directions there is going to be conflict and the need for specific tactics at particular times. Here are the two final Backgammon techniques to round out your game.
The Priming Game Plan
If the purpose of the blocking tactic is to hamper the opponents ability to shift her chips, the Priming Game plan is to completely stop any movement of the opposing player by building a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The opponent’s pieces will either get hit, or end up in a battered position if he ever tries to leave the wall. The ambush of the prime can be established anywhere between point 2 and point 11 in your game board. Once you have successfully built the prime to prevent the activity of the competitor, your opponent doesn’t even get to toss the dice, and you shift your checkers and roll the dice again. You will win the game for sure.
The Back Game Strategy
The objectives of the Back Game strategy and the Blocking Game strategy are similar – to hinder your opponent’s positions hoping to better your odds of winning, however the Back Game technique uses alternate techniques to do that. The Back Game plan is often used when you’re far behind your competitor. To participate in Backgammon with this strategy, you need to hold two or more points in table, and to hit a blot (a single checker) late in the game. This tactic is more difficult than others to play in Backgammon because it requires careful movement of your pieces and how the checkers are relocated is partly the outcome of the dice roll.