In very simple terms, there are three general techniques employed. You must be agile enough to hop between strategies quickly as the course of the match unfolds.
The Blockade
This is composed of assembling a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at a minimum as deep as you are able to achieve, to barricade in your opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is considered to be the most suitable tactic at the begining of the match. You can build the wall anywhere inbetween your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This involves locking your home board as quickly as as you can while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your opposer 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 6/1 6/1 8/3 8/3. Your competitor is then in serious trouble since they have two pieces on the bar and you have closed half your inside board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have 2 or more pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor is a position filled by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It would be played when you are extremely behind as it much improves your opportunities. The strongest locations for anchor spots are near your competitor’s lower points and also on adjoining points or with one point separating them. Timing is crucial for a powerful backgame: after all, there is no point having 2 nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own inner board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your competitor is getting their pieces home, seeing that you don’t have other extra pieces to move! In this situation, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you are able to maintain your position until your opponent provides you a chance to hit, so it can be a wonderful idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!
January 8th, 2024
Makenzie
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