The Blitz

The blitz is a backgammon strategy many backgammon players describe as one of the most exciting backgammon strategies around. It involves aggressive attacking and when well executed the defender can’t do much except hope for the best. Gammons and dramatic swings of fortune are also at the very heart of a blitz and make interesting online backgammon matches.

This article teaches you how to recognize a starting blitz, what are the objectives on both sides and how to reach those objectives, as well as the key doubling strategies involved in a typical blitz.

The start of a blitz

Normally blitz starts in the very early stages of a game. It is initiated by a double, which gives the chance for the other player to make one or two home board points and hit the opponent’s checker in the process. In order to make it very easy to grasp, the characteristics of a typical starting blitz are in the following list:

Characteristics of a starting blitz

1. A player has split his back men
2. The opponent rolls a double and
3. Hits one or both back men and
4. Makes one or two home board points
5. The player with checkers on the bar fails to enter from the bar on his next turn

The two pictures below illustrates this process clearly. In the left picture Black won the tossup and rolled 5-4. He played 13/8 24/20. In the right picture White rolled 5-5 on his next turn and played 6/1*(2) 8/3(2). Black rolled an unlucky 6-1 and stays on the bar. White’s got a blitz going on all right.

A blitz doesn’t have to start with one player rolling a double, but it certainly makes things much easier for the attacker. A good blitz can also start with making only one home board point and perhaps making the second on the next turn. Also, one of the back men might’ve already made a Lover’s leap to the mid-point, leaving slightly smaller chances for the player initiating a blitz to carry it out successfully.

Objectives in a blitz

The ultimate goal of a blitz is to hit opponent’s checkers on the home board and keep them on the bar by making all six home board points. When a blitz is on it’s way there is no turning back. Or, at least there shouldn’t be. The player playing a blitz should be committed to a “full steam ahead” gameplay with no compromises. Should he doubt and make one or two “safe” moves he could jeopardize his blitz and increase his opponents chances to escape a gammon loss or even winning the game.

In a blitz the objectives for the player playing a blitz are:

• make home board points
• hit opponent’s checkers on the home board
• bring builders to help in making home board points and/or in hitting

Bringing builders is a very important element that should not be ignored. It has direct impact on the success of the blitz and doubling strategies.

The defender in a blitz has one single objective: to make an anchor. Obviously this is pretty much out of the defender’s control, but a blitz is considered a failed blitz when the player who is being blitzed manages to make an anchor. We’ll examine a failed blitz later in this article.

Doubling strategies in a blitz

The golden rule for the player starting the blitz as to when to offer the first double is when

• he has made three or more home-board points
• the opponent has failed to enter from the bar

This situation could still be a take for the player being blitzed if he has only one checker on the bar, but if he has two checkers on the bar it would be a pass.

While the cube action is pretty straightforward for the attacker there are a few factors the defender needs to take into account when determining whether the to take or pass. Those factors are:

• when the attacker has three home board points and no or little threat, it’s a take (normally the attacker shouldn’t double until he poses threat)
• when the attacker has made three home board points and threatens, it’s a pass
• when the attacker has four or more home board points, it’s a pass
• with one checker on the bar, it’s normally a take (consider threat)
• with two checkers on the bar, it’s a pass
• if the defender has one or more anchors, it’s a take (attacker needs to be careful in doubling)
• if the defender has no anchors, it’s normally a pass (consider checkers on bar, attacker’s home board
• points and threat)how many vulnerable points, i.e. blots does the defender have and are they threatened?

In short, the defender needs to evaluate his possibilities to enter from the bar safely and possibly making an anchor in the process.

Threat

Above we talk about the element of threat the attacker poses to the defender. By threat we mean the number of builders the attacker has managed to bring to his 7-11 points. Without builders the attacker can’t make enough home board points to conduct an effective blitz and the defender’s chances increase. A healthy number and distribution of builders mean a strong possibility to continue the blitz and is therefore a real turn-off for the defender.

Bringing in builders shouldn’t be a very difficult task for the attacker. He can easily mobilize three checkers from his mid-point and if the blitz is very successful even both back men as well Often, however, it is only one back checker that can be brought up in time when the focus is on making home board points.

When things go wrong

As already mentioned above a blitz can be considered a failed one when the player being blitzed manages to make an anchor. Things might not be so bad if the anchor is made in the later stages of the game, in fact the situation might still be good for the attacker. However, consider this scenario in the early mid-game:

• defender has a checker on the bar
• he rolls a lucky double and gets the checker enters the board
• while doing so he makes an anchor,
• hits the attacker’s checker sending him on the bar and
• makes a new home board point of his own, which is his third home board point
• the attacker fails to enter from the bar on his next turn

Suddenly the defender became the attacker and he now has a strong double which would be a pass for the former attacker.

Obviously the chances for such a scenario are slim to say at least. A well-executed blitz has a good winning chance, but this scenario perfectly illustrates the dramatic nature of a blitz and also is a good reminder for the player being blitzed never to give up!