Early Game Strategy
Backgammon rewards players who can change plans quickly. Some positions call for patience and safe building, others for bold attacks. The first few turns after the opening are a time to be active: decide quickly what you want, take reasonable risks to get it, and you will reach the middle game with a clear edge.
In the early game you have two goals. Make good points, and do not leave your back checkers behind.
Goal 1: Make points in and near your home board
Points in your home board do two jobs at once. First, they make life harder for your opponent. Every point you hold is one more number that a hit checker cannot enter with, and even one or two made points start to cramp your opponent's choices on the turn they come in from the bar. Second, checkers on home-board points are already where they need to be for the bear-off later.
Not every point is equally useful, though. Points deep in your board, such as the 1- and 2-points, use up checkers that can no longer move anywhere useful. A simple way to rank them:
- Gold: your 5-point.
- Silver: your 4-point and your bar point (7-point).
- Bronze: your 3-point.
Your 6-point and 8-point are already made at the start, so the work is on the others.
When you cannot make a home-board point, make points just outside it, on your 7-, 8-, 9- and 10-points. Points there block the path of your opponent's back checkers and can grow into a prime. Checkers in that zone also act as reserves: from there they can hit an escaping checker or come in to make a home-board point on a later roll.
The quickest route to the key points is to keep builders, spare checkers within six pips of the point you want, so that many rolls let you make it. That is why the standard opening moves bring checkers down from the midpoint even when they leave a blot.
Goal 2: Free your back checkers
Your two back checkers start deep in your opponent's home board, the farthest checkers from home. If your opponent builds a wall in front of them, you can lose the game no matter how well you play elsewhere.
Move them up early so they stay in touch with the rest of your army. Once a back checker is more than six pips from your other checkers, it has nowhere safe to go and becomes an easy target. A few practical tips:
- Use doubles for an anchor. With a double, moving both back checkers together to the same point is safe and often strong, for example 24/20(2) with 4-4. Use the other half of the double for a point on your side of the board. With small doubles, 1-1 to 3-3, making two home or outer points is often better than moving the back checkers at all.
- Split with the awkward number. Many rolls have one number that fits your plan and one that would only leave a poor blot on your side. Use that spare number to split your back checkers. Splitting is a risk, but it is the risk that gives you the chance to make an advanced anchor next turn.
- Aim for an advanced anchor. The best place for your back checkers is a point of your own on the opponent's 5-point or 4-point (your 20- or 21-point). An anchor there is hard to trap, gives you a landing spot when you are hit, and watches your opponent's outer board for shots.
- Do not leave them split for long. Two separate back checkers are two targets. If your opponent starts attacking, you will spend whole turns entering from the bar instead of building.
Balancing the two goals
Each roll you have to decide which goal matters more right now. If your opponent is building a strong position in front of your back checkers, escaping or anchoring comes first. If your back checkers are safe on a good anchor, put your effort into your own points. The broader picture of how hitting, building and running fit together is covered in Backgammon Strategy, and if your board grows into a wall, read Priming Games next.
Final words
Players who reach these two goals early can face the middle game calmly and concentrate on what matters, rather than fighting a string of problems that seem to come from nowhere. Most of those problems are the result of a poor start. Play actively from the first roll, stay focused, and many games will turn your way.