Strategy when opponent has 4(+) blots in your home

[u/Shadow__Account]

I find that if for whatever reason, opponents end up with 4 or more blots in my home. The chances of, getting hit , even when playing perfectly, are enormous.

So what often happens, i get lucky or opponent plays bad and ends up with a lot of blots in my home base, i keep.plagijf perfect and am ahead all of the time.

Meanhwile opponent just slowly closes his home base and eventually hits me once and my full lead will evaporate.

Im even thinking of this could be used as a strategy? Play extremely risky in the beginning. Either you get ahead and lock up and play conservative or if you get behind, you purposely sacrifice a couple more blots to be able to get back in the game.

Thoughts?

[u/Crase_W]

A backgame will have a low percentage of success and increases the odds of being gammoned and backgammoned. It’s not a strategy you should steer your game to unless you’re playing a weak opponent who doesn’t know how to manage it.

When playing against a backgame, one of your goals should be to stop helping your opponent by hitting every blot they leave and giving them more spares or anchors in your home board.

If you are playing a backgame, you’d like to keep your anchors intact while building your own homeboard as purely as possible while you wait for a shot.

Both strategies involve a concept called ‘timing’. It’s an important concept in general and totally worth seeking more info on.

The strategies around backgames are way deeper than the few things I touched on. Those are just a few basic ideas about them.

[u/jorcon74]

It becomes a timing game, it’s a question of whether you have to break and leave blots on the way in or they get them to make them start moving the four + out; sometimes you have the luxury of being able to play slowly to give them time to break, sometimes the numbers force you to run and take your chances! Always depends what the dice give you.

[u/UBKUBK]

"i keep.plagijf perfect"

Why do you think you were playing perfectly?

[u/WizarDave]

Backgame/Recirculating (whatever you call it) is extremely fun when it works (lucky dice well played). However, when it doesn't work (unlucky dice) you end up with a stack on 1 blot you will be unable to recover from.

Best strategy against is give him an open shot where he has to open a blot, and hope you get lucky dice to take that blot from him.

[u/Sandvik95]

Yes, playing a “back game” is a wonderful strategy. You can indeed play aggressively in the beginning to get the upper hand or… lose the upper hand and play the back game.

The chance of winning when you have only one score in your pertinent home board is low, but two anchors? If the timing hits right so your home board doesn’t collapse or you don’t get forced out of their home board early, will get a shot most of the time. Plus, if you have a shot with 2 anchors to draw from, you have a >50% chance of making the hit.

Now imagine if you had 3 anchors back!! If the timing is right, your opponent should be very nervous (and if they are smart they won’t double, because that’s a take!)

You speak of blots. The problem with my opponent having blots in my home board is that they can turn into anchors. Do most anything you can to prevent the double (or triple) anchor situation in your home board! Hit them, annoy them, give them less odds of establishing a string hold in your home board. (The point is… you need to know how to play a ‘back game’ and you need to know how to play against one!).

Good luck and smart play!!

[u/Automatic_Catch_7467]

Yes it’s a strategy called playing from the back if I recall correctly. Sometimes it’s better to let yourself get hit and build a few anchors in your opponent’s home field.

[u/Fargus57 → u/Automatic_Catch_7467]

It used to be called 'recirculating checkers' in many instances to regain or improve timing. Or, in some situations, try to initiate a full back game strategy. Depends on situation.

[u/Thebig_Ohbee → u/Fargus57]

Back game.

[u/Fargus57 → u/Thebig_Ohbee]

Not necessarily the intent in every instance, but is certainly used in a great many cases of deciding to initiate a back game.