[ English ]

In very general terms, there are three basic strategies used. You want to be able to hop between strategies instantly as the action of the game unfolds.

The Blockade

This is composed of creating a 6-thick wall of checkers, or at least as deep as you are able to achieve, to lock in the opponent’s checkers that are on your 1-point. This is judged to be the most suitable procedure at the begining of the game. You can create the wall anyplace within your 11-point and your two-point and then shift it into your home board as the game progresses.

The Blitz

This consists of locking your home board as fast as possible while keeping your challenger on the bar. e.g., if your competitor rolls an early two and moves one checker from your one-point to your 3-point and you then roll a 5-5, you can play 6/1 6/1 eight/three 8/3. Your opposer is now in big-time calamity because they have 2 checkers on the bar and you have locked half your inner board!

The Backgame

This tactic is where you have 2 or more checkers in your competitor’s home board. (An anchor spot is a position consisting of at least 2 of your pieces.) It needs to be employed when you are significantly behind as it greatly improves your chances. The better locations for anchor spots are towards your competitor’s smaller points and also on adjacent points or with one point separating them. Timing is important for an effective backgame: after all, there’s no reason having two nice anchor spots and a complete wall in your own home board if you are then required to break down this straight away, while your competitor is moving their checkers home, because you don’t have any other spare checkers to shift! In this case, it is more tolerable to have pieces on the bar so that you can maintain your position up till your competitor provides you an opportunity to hit, so it can be a good idea to try and get your competitor to hit them in this case!