Backgammon tactics

Although luck is an essential element in backgammon, making the game varying, interesting and quite dramatic at times, backgammon is essentially a skill game. The best players never rely on luck and although there is no such thing as always winning in backgammon, they do win most of their games. Learning about backgammon tactics will help you succeed and make your way in online backgammon tournaments.

Early game tactics

The beginning of a backgammon game is probably the easiest part of in terms of tactical decisions. There are only so many possible Opening moves and Replies to opening moves that any active player soon remembers them all. However, it’s not only the limited number of moves that makes this phase so easy but also that there really isn’t much room for creative play in during the first moves. And make no mistake here - should you deviate from the “correct” moves might cost you the game, unless you are playing against a novice player.

In the opening turns opportunity may arise for either player to execute a couple aggressive strategies, most popular being The Blitz. It’s an exciting bulldozer style strategy that can easily destroy your opponent’s game, but that could almost just as easily die out before you really get a Blitz going.

Mid-game strategies

After the opening phase the game enters the mid-game phase, which is typically characterised by positions building moves on both sides and hitting the opponents men when the opportunity arises. Often the mid-game phase ends quickly and the game enters the final race phase, but it is quite common for one player to make a few good moves and to establish a Priming game, Holding game or a Backgame. Each of these situations require different tactics, be sure to study them closely so you won’t be caught by surprise.

Doubling cube

Backgammon has never been the same since the backgammon doubling cube was invented in the 1920’s. A good example of it is a typical dull mid-game situation, where the players being in a slight lead can bring the game to a sudden end by offering a double. The doubling cube tests the players’ understanding of the game while at the same time making the game much more exciting than it was in the past. Nowadays, doubling forms a central part of backgammon and many games don’t run to the end but finish in a pass.

In order for you to be able to correctly judge when to offer a double and what to do in case you are offered a double you need to know about pip-count, timing and probabilities. It all might seem somewhat complicated at first, but believe me when I say it’s worth every penny to make the right call in a doubling situation.

The race

Many people don’t like the final phase of backgammon, The race. It is often considered as a roll contest, but there is more to that in a race than simply bashing the dice around the board and hoping for double-sixes. I am not saying that doubles don’t help, on the contrary; player rolling more doubles is likely end up being the winner. My point is, that in a race you also need to take other factors into consideration, such as adjusting your pip-count for wastage and avoiding not to stack your checkers for a healthy bear-off.

A race can be an brethtakingly even side-by-side run down to the very last move, but experienced players often double at the right moment. That’s another good reason why you should understand the elements involved in doubling. However, in our The Race article there is a simple but handy rule to doubling that can help you make the right decision towards the end of the game.