How to win at backgammon: 12 tips
You can't control the dice, but you can control how many points you give away with each roll. These twelve habits are what separate players who win over time from players who blame their luck.
Get the opening right
1. Learn the 15 opening moves
Every game starts with one of fifteen rolls, and each has a best move that computers have worked out. Learning them takes an evening and saves you from starting a third of your games a little behind. Start with the three that make a point: 3-1 makes your 5-point, 4-2 your 4-point and 6-1 your bar point. The opening moves guide has all fifteen.
2. Split or build: do one or the other
With most other opening rolls you either bring a builder down from the midpoint or split your back checkers to get them moving. Both are sound. What loses is doing neither: playing safe moves that build nothing and leave your back checkers stuck.
Make the right points
3. The 5-point is worth the most
Your 5-point blocks your opponent's back checkers, gives you a landing spot in your home board, and is the best point to own when you hit them. Make it early when you can, and fight for your opponent's 5-point (your 20-point) as an anchor if you get behind.
4. Build points in front of the enemy
Points are only useful where they block. The points directly in front of your opponent's back checkers (your 4 to 9) matter far more than points behind them. Six in a row is a prime that no checker can pass.
Hitting and blots
5. Hit early, especially in your home board
Hitting sends a checker back to the start and costs your opponent pips and time. Early in the game, hitting is usually right, and hitting two checkers (a double hit) is often game-winning.
6. Count the shots before you leave a blot
A single checker within 6 points of an enemy checker can be hit by 11 of 36 rolls or more; one 7 to 12 points away is hit by far fewer. When you must leave a blot, leave it where the fewest rolls hit it, and where being hit costs you least. The odds and probabilities page has the full shot table.
7. Don't stack everything on one point
Six checkers on your 6-point can't block anything the other five could. Spread your spare checkers so they can make new points next turn. Flexible positions win more often than tidy ones.
Have a game plan
8. Pick a plan from the pip count
Before each turn, know who is ahead in the race. If you are clearly ahead, get your checkers home safely and break contact. If you are behind, keep contact: hold an anchor, build a prime, and wait for a shot. The five standard plans (running, holding, priming, blitzing and back game) are in the strategy guide.
9. Get your back checkers out in time
The most common way to lose a gammon is leaving both back checkers behind while your opponent builds a prime in front of them. Split them early, move them up to an advanced anchor, or run with big doubles before the wall goes up.
Racing and bearing off
10. Bear off safely, then fast
If your opponent still has a checker on your home board or on the bar, take checkers off without leaving blots, even if it costs a little speed. Once contact is over, take a checker off with every number you can. See bearing off for the technique.
Use the doubling cube
11. Take more doubles than feels comfortable
Beginners drop far too many doubles. You should take whenever you win about 25 percent of the time or more, and many positions that look bad still win that often. Dropping too much is the biggest leak in most players' games. Read the doubling cube guide for when to double and take.
Practise the right way
12. Play strong opponents with hints on
You improve fastest when you find out which of your moves were mistakes. Play the computer on Hard in Backgammon Lounge, ask for a hint after you move, and look closely whenever its move differs from yours. Avoiding the 10 classic beginner mistakes is a good first goal. Then play a game now and try three of these tips at once.
Questions
What is the best strategy to win at backgammon?
Build points in front of your opponent's back checkers, especially your 5-point, 4-point and bar point, and pick a game plan that fits the position: race when ahead, hold or prime when behind. Most wins come from fewer big mistakes, not brilliant moves.
What is the most important point in backgammon?
Your 5-point. It is in your home board, blocks your opponent's back checkers, and is hard for them to take from you. The 4-point and the bar point (your 7-point) come next.
Should you always hit in backgammon?
Usually, early in the game, hitting is right because it costs your opponent pips and tempo. But not always: if hitting leaves several of your own blots exposed to return shots from the bar, a quieter safe play is often better.
How can I get better at backgammon fast?
Learn the 15 opening moves, count pips before racing decisions, learn when to take a double, and play against a strong computer opponent with hints so you can see where your choices differ.
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