In astonishingly general terms, there are 3 basic tactics employed. You want to be agile enough to hop between techniques almost instantly as the action of the game unfolds.
The Blockade
This consists of creating a 6-deep wall of checkers, or at least as thick as you might achieve, to barricade in your competitor’s pieces that are located on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most acceptable course of action at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere within your 11-point and your 2-point and then shift it into your home board as the game continues.
The Blitz
This involves closing your home board as quickly as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. For example, if your opposer rolls an early 2 and moves one piece from your 1-point to your three-point and you then toss a five-five, you can play 6/1 six/one 8/3 eight/three. Your competitor is then in big-time trouble because they have two pieces on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!
The Backgame
This plan is where you have two or higher pieces in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point filled by at a minimum 2 of your pieces.) It should be played when you are extremely behind as it greatly improves your opportunities. The better places for anchor spots are towards your opponent’s lower points and also on adjacent points or with a single point separating them. Timing is crucial for an effectual backgame: at the end of the day, there is no point having two nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to dismantle this straight away, while your challenger is getting their checkers home, because you don’t have any other additional pieces to move! In this case, it’s more tolerable to have checkers on the bar so that you might maintain your position until your opposer gives you an opportunity to hit, so it will be an excellent idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!
July 15th, 2024
Makenzie
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