Backgammon Strategy: Risk It or Play It Safe?
Like other strategy games, backgammon will require players to take certain risks during every game played. Unfortunately, there are no clear cut guidelines in backgammon that will tell you if it is ok to play it safe or to take additional risks. What we have are only general guiding principles to help us evaluate which course to take.
The most basic of all the guiding principles in backgammon strategy is your own relative strength at different stages of a game. Relative strength simply refers to how good your current position is in the game. This will require checking certain elements of your game to gauge whether it is good to take risks or not.
Risks in backgammon will usually include leaving blots open to attack on the board, break a prime, breaking established anchors, etc. Taking risks may become detrimental specially when you take them at the wrong time. And in a game like backgammon where the pace is really fast, it will cost you if your opponent capitalizes on a risk you took mistakenly.
Here are a few things you should check to gauge your relative strength against your opponent. Generally speaking, if you have a better position than your opponent then risks are welcome and care free. Consider the following before you jump right in and take risks in a backgammon game.
The first thing you should consider is the number of your home board points. More home board points mean more freedom on the backgammon board. The point is that if you hit a blot with more points made it will be a lot harder for your opponent to enter. For instance, you've made three home board points and your opponent only has one, you have a lot more chances to enter a checker from the bar whereas your opponent has half the chance of entering a checker.
Another important factor is the presence of anchors on the backgammon board. Having multiple anchors on the backgammon board opens opportunities to play aggressively and take risks. One word of caution is that you should also evaluate the position of your anchors. Anchors on key points on the backgammon board are more effective than let's say low anchors.
Another factor will have to be the presence of blots on the home board. You don't want to hit blots when you have blots on your home board since when your opponent enters checkers your blots might get hit. The opposite is also true if your opponent has blots on his home board then you can play a bit aggressively.
One last thing you would want to check is having more back men. The more back men you have the more chances you have of making anchors. An extra man on an anchor means more chances to strike at your opponent and maintain your anchor. These are your criteria when deciding to take risks in backgammon.