Coach
A real case · you decide
Ambush takes the free hit
Ambush — a player who plays it safe and lets loose enemy checkers slip home
Black has left a blot — a single checker — sitting six pips in front of your back checkers. You rolled a number that lands exactly on it. It also looks a little loose to play there.
A lone checker is a blot: land on it and it goes to the bar, and Black must re-enter it in YOUR home board before doing anything else — often losing a whole turn or more.
A hit isn't just damage; it's TEMPO. While Black scrambles to re-enter, you make points and race ahead. The question is whether the hit is worth the small risk of being hit back.
You can hit Black's blot or play a quiet, safe move. What does Ambush do?
The hit is usually the loudest move on the board: it doesn't just gain pips, it spends the opponent's whole next turn.
A real case · you decide
Barricade makes the point
Barricade — a player who spreads checkers thin and never builds a wall
Your roll lets you either bring a back checker forward one long jump, or use both dice to place two checkers together on a key point just in front of Black's back men.
A point with two of your checkers is CLOSED to the opponent — they can't land there. Several closed points in a row form a PRIME: a wall the enemy's back checkers simply cannot jump.
Backgammon is won by combining the race with a blockade. Making the right point in front of the enemy's trapped checkers is often worth more than a few pips of raw racing.
You can make a strong blocking point or race one checker forward. What now?
Points are bricks: lay them in front of the enemy's back checkers and you build the wall that wins the game.
A real case · you decide
Holdfast keeps the anchor
Holdfast — a player who always runs their back checkers early and gets primed in
Your two back checkers sit together on a point deep in Black's home board — an anchor. A big roll tempts you to run them both toward home.
An anchor is a made point in the OPPONENT's home board. While you hold it, you can NEVER be closed out, and you always have a shot at any blot Black leaves nearby.
Running the anchor too early — before you're clearly ahead in the race — trades your safety net for a few pips, and a single return hit can then send you to a board you can't re-enter.
You're behind in the race. Do you run the anchor or hold it?
An anchor is a promise you can't be shut out — behind in the race, it's the asset you hold, not the one you spend.
A real case · you decide
Furlong counts the race
Furlong — a player who plays by feel and never counts the pips
The position is a tangle of contact. Before choosing a plan, you could count the pips — the total distance each side must travel to bear off — or just play the "nice-looking" move.
The pip count is the scoreboard of the race: add up how far all fifteen of your checkers must travel home. If you're clearly AHEAD, you want to disengage and race; if you're clearly BEHIND, you want to keep contact, hold, and hope for a hit.
Choosing a racing plan while behind — or a holding plan while ahead — is playing the wrong game. The count tells you which game you're actually in.
Before committing to a plan, what should Furlong do?
Count first, then choose: the pip race tells you which game you're in before you pick how to play it.
A real case · you decide
Leverage turns the cube
Leverage — a player who never offers the doubling cube even when winning
You've built a strong position and pulled clearly ahead. The doubling cube sits in the middle — offering it would double the game's value in points, and your opponent must then either accept the higher stakes or concede the current value.
The cube is a leverage tool, not a gamble: when you're WINNING, doubling forces the opponent to choose between playing on at double the points or giving up the game now — both good for you.
Double too early (barely ahead) and a strong opponent happily accepts. Double at the RIGHT moment — a clear but not yet overwhelming edge — and you either win double the points or take the concession.
You're clearly ahead but the game isn't over. What does Leverage do with the cube?
The cube rewards the player who recognises a winning position and makes the opponent pay for it — in points, at the right moment.
A real case · you decide
Threshold takes the cube
Threshold — a player who drops every double the moment they fall behind
Your opponent doubles. You're behind — but not hopelessly. You must either TAKE (play on at double the points) or PASS (concede the current value now).
You don't need to be winning to take a double — you only need to win OFTEN ENOUGH. Roughly, if you'll still win about one game in four from here, taking loses less in the long run than passing.
Passing every time you're behind quietly bleeds points: you concede games you'd have won a quarter of the time. Taking a hopeless position is the opposite error.
You're behind but have real chances (an anchor and shots to come). Take or pass?
The take point is a threshold, not a scoreboard: hold the double whenever you'd still win enough of the time to justify the stakes.
A real case · you decide
Homeward bears off clean
Homeward — a player who wastes pips and leaves shots while bearing off
All fifteen of your checkers are home and you're bearing off. Your roll doesn't exactly match your highest points — so how you use the numbers matters.
Efficient bearing off means WASTING as few pips as possible: use each die to take a checker off or fill an empty lower point, rather than over-moving a checker past where it needed to stop.
And if the opponent still has a checker back with a shot at you, "safe" beats "fast": leaving an even, no-blot position matters more than bearing off one extra checker into a return hit.
Your roll doesn't match your points and Black still holds an anchor with a shot. What now?
A clean bear-off is quiet craft: waste no pips, leave no blot, and let the lead you already earned carry you home.
A real case · you decide
Rearguard plays the back game
Rearguard — a player who gives up the moment the race is lost
You've fallen far behind in the race — too far to win it straight. But you hold two anchors deep in Black's home board, and Black must still bring everything past you.
A back game is the plan for when the race is already lost: hold TWO anchors and keep good TIMING, so that when Black is forced to break its board and leave a shot, you're still there to hit it.
The danger is timing: if your own board crunches (you're forced to bury checkers) before Black leaves the shot, you'll hit but have nowhere to contain the checker. Hold your structure until the shot comes.
Far behind but holding two anchors, what is Rearguard's plan?
The back game is patience with a purpose: two anchors, good timing, and the one shot you were waiting for.