As we dicussed in the previous article, Backgammon is a game of skill and luck. The aim is to move your pieces safely around the game board to your inner board while at the same time your opponent shifts their checkers toward their home board in the opposite direction. With opposing player pieces shifting in opposite directions there is bound to be conflict and the need for specific techniques at specific instances. Here are the last two Backgammon techniques to round out your game.
The Priming Game Plan
If the purpose of the blocking tactic is to slow down the opponent to move their checkers, the Priming Game tactic is to absolutely barricade any activity of the opponent by creating a prime – ideally 6 points in a row. The competitor’s checkers will either get bumped, or end up in a bad position if she ever tries to escape the wall. The ambush of the prime can be established anywhere between point two and point eleven in your game board. As soon as you have successfully constructed the prime to block the activity of your competitor, the opponent does not even get a chance to toss the dice, that means you move your pieces and roll the dice again. You’ll be a winner for sure.
The Back Game Tactic
The goals of the Back Game tactic and the Blocking Game tactic are similar – to harm your opponent’s positions hoping to boost your odds of succeeding, however the Back Game strategy uses different techniques to do that. The Back Game plan is generally employed when you’re far behind your opponent. To compete in Backgammon with this technique, you have to hold 2 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 employ in Backgammon seeing as it needs careful movement of your chips and how the pieces are moved is partly the result of the dice toss.