In extraordinarily general terms, there are three main plans employed. You want to be agile enough to switch strategies instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of creating a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to achieve, to block in the competitor’s checkers that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the match. You can create the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This is comprised of closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your challenger tosses an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a 5-5, you will be able to play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your challenger is now in serious difficulty because they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This strategy is where you have two or more anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a position consisting of at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be played when you are decidedly behind as this strategy greatly improves your opportunities. The better locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s lower points and also on abutting points or with a single point separating them. Timing is critical for an effective backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having two nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then forced to break down this right away, while your opposer is shifting their checkers home, owing to the fact that you don’t have any other additional checkers to shift! In this case, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position up until your challenger provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to try and get your opponent to get them in this situation!
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
