In very simple terms, there are three fundamental tactics used. You must be agile enough to switch game plans quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you are able to achieve, to barricade in the opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most adequate strategy at the start of the game. You can create the wall anywhere between your 11-point and your 2-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the match progresses.
The Blitz
This is composed of locking your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. For example, if your challenger tosses an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you are able to play 6/1 six/one eight/three eight/three. Your challenger is then in big-time trouble due to the fact that they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have closed half your inner board!
The Backgame
This course of action is where you have 2 or more checkers in your competitor’s inner board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It must be employed when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The strongest places for anchors are close to your opponent’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with a single point separating them. Timing is important for a competent backgame: at the end of the day, there’s no reason having 2 nice anchors and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to break apart this straight away, while your opponent is shifting their checkers home, seeing that you don’t have other additional checkers to shift! In this case, it’s better to have pieces on the bar so that you are able to preserve your position up till your opposer provides you an opportunity to hit, so it will be a good idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this case!
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.
