Backgammon Strategy

A practical guide to winning more games

Backgammon rewards a plan. The dice decide a lot, but over many games the player who chooses the right strategy — knowing when to race, when to block, when to hit, and when to sit tight — wins far more often. This guide covers the ideas that separate strong players from beginners: the four game plans, hitting and priming, anchors, the blitz, dice economy, and clean bear-offs. New to the game? Start with the how-to-play guide first, then come back here — and practice everything free on BackgammonWorld.

First: are you ahead or behind?

Almost every backgammon decision starts with one question: who is winning the race? Your pip count answers it — the total distance your checkers still have to travel. As a rough rule:

• Clearly ahead (roughly 8–10%+): simplify and race home. Avoid unnecessary contact; you don't need to fight when you're already winning the sprint.
• Roughly even: fight for the key points, keep flexible, and take good hits.
• Clearly behind: don't race — you'll lose. Hold an anchor and play for a hit or a prime, so a single shot can swing the game back.

The four game plans

Most positions call for one of four broad plans. Recognising which one you are in — and committing to it — is the single biggest strategic skill.

• 1. The race. You are ahead in pips. Run your back checkers to safety, avoid blots, and bring everyone home as efficiently as possible. Fewest wasted pips wins.
• 2. The priming (blocking) game. Build a wall of made points in front of your opponent's back checkers so they can't escape, then bring your position home while they sit trapped. Great when you have trapped a checker or two.
• 3. The blitz (attacking game). Hit an opponent's blot, then keep attacking — making home-board points while they're stuck on the bar — aiming to close them out completely. Best when your opponent is loose and your home board is strong.
• 4. The holding / back game. You are behind. You hold an anchor in the opponent's home board and wait for them to leave a shot as they bear in. One good hit late in the game can turn a loss into a win.

These aren't rigid boxes — games shift from one to another — but at any moment you should know which plan you're playing and let it guide each roll.

Make the right points

Making points (two or more checkers together) builds both safety and blockade. Not all points are equal — prioritise these:

• Your 5-point ("the golden point"). The single most valuable point on the board. It blocks escape and anchors your prime. Grab it early whenever you can.
• Your bar point (7-point). Next in value — together with the 5- and 6-points it forms the core of a blockade.
• Your 4-point, then the rest of the home board, especially when you're attacking.
• The 20-point ("golden anchor") in your opponent's home board — the best defensive point to hold when you're on the back foot.

A useful habit: keep builders — spare checkers on your 8- and 13-points — ready to make new points. Don't bury everything on the 6-point where it can't help.

When to hit (and when not to)

Hitting a blot sends it back ~25 pips and forces your opponent to re-enter before doing anything else. It's powerful, but not always right. Hit when:

• It gains you the race, or makes a key point while hitting (a "point-on-the-head" — the strongest play in the game).
• Your home board is strong, so a checker on the bar struggles to come back in.
• You're behind and need to create contact and chances.

Think twice about hitting when:

• Your own home board is weak — the checker re-enters easily and you've just exposed a blot.
• You're comfortably ahead in the race; a wild hitting battle only gives the trailer chances.
• The hit leaves you with a worse blot than the one you removed.

Building and using a prime

A prime is a row of consecutive made points. A checker stuck behind a full six-point prime cannot escape with any roll — it is completely trapped until you're forced to open a gap.

You rarely start with a full prime; you build toward it. Aim to make consecutive points in front of the checker you want to trap, and hold the structure with your spares. Two ideas make priming work:

• Trap first, then roll the prime home. Once a checker is behind a 4- or 5-prime, keep the wall intact and walk it forward point by point toward your home board, dragging the trapped checker's owner into a hopeless spot.
• Timing matters. A prime is only useful while you can hold it. If your other checkers are forced to move and crash the wall before you've cashed in, the trap springs open.

Anchors: your safety net

An anchor is a made point in your opponent's home board. It is the trailer's best friend: your back checkers can never be hit while they sit on it, and it gives you a base to hit them from as they try to bear in.

• The 20-point (golden anchor) is the best — advanced enough to threaten and escape, deep enough to be safe.
• Deeper anchors (the 1- and 2-points) are safer but more passive — good for a back game, weak for winning outright.
• Don't break an anchor too early. It's your insurance against losing the race. Give it up only when you're clearly ahead and ready to run.

The blitz: attack and close out

A blitz is an all-out attack. You hit a checker, then keep making home-board points and hitting again, so your opponent stacks up on the bar and can't get back in. If you make all six home-board points while they have a checker on the bar, you've closed them out — they can't move at all until you break your board, and you often pick up a gammon.

Blitz when:

• Your opponent leaves an early blot in or near your home board.
• You already have two or three home-board points made (a threatening board).
• You have spare builders ready to make more points quickly.

The risk: if the attack stalls and you've scattered blots, you can get hit back hard. Commit to the blitz when the board supports it — half-measures are the worst of both worlds.

Back games (handle with care)

A back game is the last resort when you're badly behind: you hold two anchors deep in your opponent's home board and wait to hit a shot as they bear in. The best anchor pairs are close together (for example the 1- and 3-points, or the 2- and 4-points).

Be honest, though: back games are hard to play well and often lose gammons when they fail. For most players, a holding game with a single strong anchor (the 20- or 18-point) is a more reliable way to play from behind. Reach for a full back game only when nothing else gives you a chance.

Dice economy: duplication & diversification

Strong players squeeze more out of the dice with two related ideas:

• Duplication. Arrange your position so your opponent needs the same number to do two different good things. If a 4 is the only number that lets them both hit you and make a key point, you've cut their good rolls — one 4 can't do both.
• Diversification. Do the opposite for yourself: place your builders so that many different numbers let you make a point next turn. More working numbers means more good rolls.

You don't need to calculate this precisely. Just ask, before a quiet move: "Which numbers help me next roll, and which numbers help my opponent?" — then nudge the odds your way.

Bearing off safely

In a pure race the bear-off is mostly automatic, but two things cost beginners whole games:

• Don't leave a shot while your opponent still holds an anchor in your home board. Clear your points from the back, keep them even, and avoid leaving a single checker exposed — one late hit can send it all the way around and lose the game you had won.
• Avoid gaps. Fill in your home board evenly so you're not forced to waste pips or leave a blot later. Cross a checker over to fill an empty point rather than stacking one high.

If there's no contact left — both sides are just racing off — play the most efficient move (fill gaps, avoid wastage) and don't overthink it.

Common strategic mistakes

• Playing without a plan. Drifting move-to-move. Decide race / prime / blitz / hold, and let it steer every roll.
• Racing when behind (or holding when ahead). The pip count tells you which; most blunders ignore it.
• Breaking an anchor too early and losing your safety net.
• Half-committing to an attack, leaving loose blots without the board to back it.
• Over-stacking the 6-point instead of spreading builders to make new points.
• Leaving needless shots in the bear-off against an anchor.

A quick decision framework

Before you move, run through this in a few seconds:

• 1. Check the race. Ahead, even, or behind? (Glance at the pip count.)
• 2. Pick the plan. Ahead → race. Even → make points, take good hits. Behind → hold an anchor, play for a shot or a prime.
• 3. Find the strongest play for that plan. Can you make the 5-point or bar point? Point on your opponent's head? Double hit? A safe, efficient move?
• 4. Weigh the shots. If you must leave a blot, count how many numbers hit it — and whether the reward is worth it.

Do that consistently and you'll beat most casual players — the dice will still swing individual games, but strategy wins the long run.

Put it into practice

Reading strategy only gets you so far — you learn it by playing. On BackgammonWorld you can practice against the computer on three levels (the hard engine will punish loose blots and reward a good prime), or play friends and online opponents, all free with no signup.

See also: How to Play Backgammon (rules, setup, bearing off) and the best opening moves with diagrams.