Hints & Tips

Make sure you don't get caught with pieces in the opponent's home board near the end of the game, as you could easily lose a gammon or backgammon. Playing a 'back game' where you deliberately keep your pieces back is a risky strategy.

Try to control as many points on the board as you can, in particular getting a row of controlled points can be very powerful. A full row of six controlled points is called a 'prime' and completely blocks your opponent's pieces.

When you are forced to leave a blot, try to put it where the opponent has the least chance of hitting it (ie very close to or far away from his pieces). Also think about how much damage losing that blot would do, pieces closer to your home board are more damaging to lose than pieces on your opponent's side of the board.

There are two key points in each board, the 5-point and the 7-point (called the bar-point). You should try to gain control of these points in the early stages of the game.

Your opponent's checkers on your 1-point have to travel the longest distance to bear off. Thus early on you should try to impede their progress (with blocks and primes as described above).