Basic Backgammon Strategy

There are various strategies in the game of backgammon. Backgammon is a game that is played with two dice and a doubling cube. Here two players vie against each other to try and get the 15 backgammon checkers allotted to them into their home board and subsequently off the entire board. The first player to accomplish this feat is the winner.

As backgammon has become a very popular game this has raised the player traffic considerably both in land based centres and clubs to online gaming sites. It has also managed to raise the stakes that are usually placed on this game. Overall the commercial value of the game of backgammon has gone up. Therefore there is more competition among players and if you want to be a good backgammon player and hopefully win some big money with backgammon wagers then it is necessary to beef up your knowledge on all the various strategies involved in the game.

Since there is no strategy to throwing dice and as the outcome of the throws depend more on luck than technique, strategy is limited to the moving of your men across the backgammon board.

The most basic strategy is to spread out all your checkers across your board so that you have more flexibility. Do not keep too many checkers on one point as this will later prove difficult to manage.

One good strategy is to build up barriers such as a "prime” in your home board. A prime is a unique obstacle made up of six points. A point is a space in the board that has two or more of your or your opponents’ checkers on it. This point is then owned by this person and the opposing player is not allowed to cross this point on an indirect move, namely a move made with a single checker for the entire sum of a throw. Barriers of points such as the prime barrier block your opponent’s checkers and trap them.

Another important strategy is to try and hit the blots of your opponent especially targeting the ones that seem to have the potential to be made into possible points. Pay special attention to your own position and do not make yourself open to attack just to make a hit. You can also try to establish anchors in your opponent’s home board by sacrificing a blot. This will give you a landing space and also create an obstacle for your opponent to create a prime barrier.

Gregory Peters - Game Analyst