[ English ]

In astonishingly general terms, there are three general tactics used. You need to be agile enough to switch techniques almost instantly as the course of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This involves building a 6-thick wall of pieces, or at a minimum as thick as you can manage, to barricade in your opponent’s pieces that are on your 1-point. This is deemed to be the most acceptable procedure at the begining of the game. You can assemble the wall anywhere within your eleven-point and your two-point and then shuffle it into your home board as the game advances.

The Blitz

This involves locking your home board as fast as possible while keeping your competitor on the bar. For example, if your opposer rolls an early 2 and moves one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then toss a 5-5, you can play 6/1 six/one 8/3 8/3. Your competitor is now in big-time trouble taking into account that they have 2 pieces on the bar and you have closed half your home board!

The Backgame

This course of action is where you have 2 or higher anchors in your opponent’s home board. (An anchor spot is a point consisting of at a minimum 2 of your checkers.) It needs to be employed when you are decidedly behind as it greatly improves your circumstances. The better locations for anchor spots are close to your competitor’s smaller points and either on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is important for an effectual backgame: after all, there is no reason having 2 nice anchor spots and a solid wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this right away, while your opposer is shifting their pieces home, owing to the fact that you do not have any other extra pieces to shift! In this case, it is more favorable to have pieces on the bar so that you might preserve your position up until your challenger gives you an opportunity to hit, so it may be a wonderful idea to try and get your opponent to hit them in this situation!