In astonishingly simple terms, there are three general game plans used. You want to be agile enough to hop between game plans almost instantly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This comprises of assembling a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you can achieve, to lock in your opponent’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable procedure at the start of the match. You can build the wall anywhere inbetween 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 closing your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your competitor tosses an early two and moves one checker from your 1-point to your three-point and you then roll a five-five, you can play six/one six/one eight/three eight/three. Your opposer is then in big-time calamity since they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inside board!
The Backgame
This tactic is where you have two or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor is a point filled by at least 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be employed when you are extremely behind as this plan greatly improves your opportunities. The better places for anchor spots are near your competitor’s lower points and either on abutting points or with a single point in between. Timing is important for an effective backgame: after all, there is no point having two nice anchors and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your challenger is moving their pieces home, seeing that you don’t have any other additional checkers to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position up till your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a good idea to attempt and get your challenger to hit them in this case!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
