Backgammon Strategy

backgammon is less detailed than that other online skill games like chess. The tree of positions
expands rapidly because of the number of possible dice rolls and the moves available on each turn.
Recent computer analysis has offered more insight on opening plays, but the midgame is still based on skill.
After the opening, backgammon players frequently rely on some established general strategies,
combining and switching among them to adapt to the changing conditions of a regular skill game.
The most direct strategy is simply to avoid being hit. A "running game" describes a strategy of
moving as quickly as possible, and is most successful when a player is already ahead in the race.
When this strategy fails, one can use the strategy called: "holding game", maintaining control of
a point on one's opponent's side of the board, called an anchor. As the game progresses, this
player may gain an advantage by rolling large doubles that allow the checkers to escape again into
a running game strategy.

The "priming game" involves building a wall of checkers. A checker trapped behind a six-point prime
cannot escape until the prime is broken. A particularly successful priming effort may lead to a strategy
"blitz", which is a strategy of covering the entire home board as quickly as possible while keeping
one's opponent on the bar. Because the opponent has difficulty re-entering from the bar or escaping,
a player can quickly gain a running advantage and win the game, often with a gammon.

A "backgame" is a strategy of placing two or more anchors in an opponent's home board, while building
a prime in one's own board. The anchors obstruct the opponent's checkers and create opportunities to
hit them as they move home.

Many positions require a measurement of a player's standing in the race, for example, in making a doubling
cube decision, or in determining whether to run home and begin bearing off. The minimum total of dice rolls
needed to move a player's checkers around and off the board is called the "pip count". The difference
between the two players' pip counts is frequently used as a measure of the leader's racing advantage.
Players often use mental calculation techniques to determine pip counts in online backgammon.