Dispersing Backgammon Pieces on the Board

At the start of a backgammon game we need to consider several checkers positioning. This will help smoothen our way to a win. So here are some recommended initial backgammon tactics.

First, we should avoid exposing our pieces in the beginning just to make hits against enemy checkers. Many experts say this novice syndrome—desperately trying to hit enemy pieces at the very outset—seems a logical option at first but may prove disastrous later. It only exposes our pieces to more hits eventually.

The more apt and logical option is to aim at evenly scattering our pieces on the board as much as possible. It's sometimes wise to have about 1 or 3 pieces on the same point rather than have 5 or 6. Thus, at the start, after board setup, it is better to consider spreading out our pieces thinly. This makes maneuvering easier and faster, at the same time, safer.

Another reason we have to distribute our pieces right at the very start is flexibility. We need to be able to move our pieces fast and easy. If we concentrate a lot of them on a point it would take us lots of dice rolls just to vacate that point of our pieces. If we have 6 pieces on a point and roll the dice each turn to move them up other points they would be able to cover only a short distance from that point.

Whereas if we have them on many points we would be able to cover more points each dice roll. It would be better, in fact, to come up with a point pattern so that each dice throw could be better optimized. This is especially advantageous during bearing off. For this to happen during bearing off, we have to have prepared for this at the outset. So we should begin a pattern right at the start.

A recommended distancing between points occupied is to have them 6 pips apart, whenever possible. This would greatly help in covering for a piece. This means we have checker pieces each of the 4 quadrants. If we have 15 checker pieces this means we have 3 to 4 pieces each 6th point. This is safe, manageable, and easy to maneuver—we can easily get them off their assembly and move them out of enemy territory.

Initial backgammon tactics should be well considered right after board setup. And among these tactics is equally scattering pieces on the board.