Basic Middle Game Tactics in Backgammon
See also
Backgammon is a dice-based game, so getting the dice to work in your favour is a good idea.
Diversifying your good numbers.
Diversification is the principle of playing in such a way that as many numbers on the dice as possible play well for you on your next turn.
Figure 1 shows a simple application of the principle of diversification.
Black has a strong position and a simple game plan. He wants to cover his blot on his ace-point and to hit White’s blot on his bar-point. With his roll of 64, Black is forced to play 18/12 – this move is the only legal 6. Notice that if he leaves the blot on his 12-point, he needs 5s on his next turn, both to cover his own ace-point blot safely (6/1) and to hit White’s blot (12/7*).
Needing the same number next turn to do two things isn’t, however, a good idea. So Black should play 12/8 with the 4.
Now he needs a 5 to cover his own blot and a 1 to hit White’s blot. The number of dice rolls that do something good for him next turn significantly increases.
Duplicating your opponent’s good numbers.
If diversifying your own numbers is a good idea, then it follows that duplicating your opponent’s numbers must also be a good idea.
The principle of duplication is to give your opponent lots of things to do with the same number so she’s faced with a difficult choice.
Duplication can occur as soon as the second move of the game, as Figure 2 shows.
White opened with 21 and played the normal 13/11, 6/5. (Read about opening moves.) Black responds with a roll of 63. Black has many ways to play the roll but his best move is 24/15.
Now White needs either a 1 or 3 to hit Black’s blot on her 10-point but she also needs a 1 or 3 to cover her blot and make her 5-point.
Giving your opponent difficult decisions to make is one of the routes to winning backgammon. After all, if you give someone the chance to make mistakes, they undoubtedly take that chance occasionally!
Picking and passing.
In the opening rolls of the game, you can quite happily hit an opponent’s blot in your home board and leave your own blot exposed because the risk is worthwhile to build new points. As the game progresses and you and your opponent both build up the strength of your home boards, leaving blots lying around ceases to be a good idea as a hit can prove fatal.
Using a technique known as "picking and passing" can introduce a modicum of caution. Picking is to hit a blot in your home board and passing is to then move the checker used to make the hit to safety.
In the situation he faces in Figure 3, Black’s plan is to get his last two checkers home and then bear them off. Getting those last two checkers home is easier if White is on the bar. He can play safely by moving 6/1 but the better move is 8/4* (picking) and 4/3 (passing), which gets one of those two last checkers home and leaves White only three rolls she can use – 53, 35, and 44 – to get in from the bar and then hit the blot on Black’s 8-point.
Priming and attacking.
When the game starts you and your opponent both have two back checkers. As games evolve you sometimes find situations where your opponent hasn’t managed to escape either of her checkers. Alternatively, in other games she gets one back checker as far as her mid-point or beyond and leaves one still in your home board. Handling these two situations is fundamentally different.
One of backgammon’s most useful sayings is: "Prime an anchor, attack a blot". In other words, when your opponent still has two checkers back (an anchor in your home board), try to build a prime in front of them. If she has only one back checker, then attack it for all you’re worth.
A little thought shows why this principle works so well: to escape one checker from behind a prime may be just possible, but to escape two or more is much more difficult. Conversely, if your opponent has only one checker back she can never create the safety of an anchor in your home board, so attacking the blot becomes an attractive game plan and prevents it escaping.
Although these ideas form the right general approach, they must be tempered by whatever is happening on the rest of the board.
In Figure 4, assume that you have 22 to play, as Black.
Small doubles are nearly always difficult to play because they provide you with so many options – just one more reason why having a plan is so important. Playing to a plan helps you to focus your ideas.
Notice that White’s back checkers are still in the start position, so building a prime to try to keep them there is a good plan. After using your first 2 to play the forced bar/23 to get your checker in, play the rest of the roll 6/4(2), 13/11. Doing so gives you four good points in your home and outer boards, and if you can then make your 5-point, you have a five-point prime that will probably be good enough to enable you to win the game.
On the flip side, look at the position in Figure 5, and decide how you play 42 as Black.
Your opponent has only one checker back and has a five-point prime on her side of the board. You can try to build a prime in front of White’s checker and play 15/9 with that intent. However, if you obey the ‘prime an anchor, attack a blot’ principle, you hit the White blot in your home board with 5/1* and use the 2 to move 8/6. 8/6 is better than 15/13 because your priority next turn, assuming that White stays on the bar, is to cover the blot on your 1-point and you need to bring checkers within direct covering range of the 1-point.
This play may seem unduly risky but consider:
- Your home board is strong and White may not be able to get in and may stay on the bar.
- The tempo you gain may be critical in escaping your own rearmost checker.
- If left to her own devices, White may well attack your rear checker – after all, you’ve only got one checker back as well!
Backgammon is all about the balance between risk and reward and acquiring the knowledge to make accurate judgements takes time.
You may think that leaving a blot in your own board in this position is completely unwarranted but after you understand the demands of the position, it becomes mandatory.
Many players just make moves without ever considering their overall plan. If you can consistently play with a plan in mind you quickly become better than your opponents.
Paying now or paying later.
The final tactic is one that occurs time and time again and is known as "Pay me now or pay me later". The principle is to decide whether to take a risk now to increase your winning chances or postpone it until later because the risks are actually too high.
As Black in the position shown in Figure 6, your plan is to bring those last two checkers on your 10-point into your home board – preferably without leaving White a shot at a blot. You can play your roll of 43 in two ways:
- 6/2, 6/3, leaving no blots and hoping for a miracle roll next turn.
- 10/6, 10/7, leaving White a shot if she rolls a 2. If White gets a 2 and hits your blot, she’s likely to win the game, but if she misses you probably won’t give her any more opportunities.
The problem with 6/2, 6/3 is that unless you roll doubles other than 55 next turn you’ll probably have to leave a blot (or blots) anyway. Leaving the minimum number of blots this turn (and while White still has a blot in her home board) in exchange for future safety is thus better.
This problem is relatively straightforward but be warned: "Pay me now or pay me later" problems can get much more difficult!
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