While playing backgammon, you will inevitably find yourself in the position of being ahead or behind your opponent in the race to bear the checkers off. Being ahead is a good thing, but being behind the opponent is not necessary a bad thing, meaning that you don’t necessary have to lose the game. In this case, it may be essential to keep your anchor or a point, and wait for a shot. While doing this, it is also an important thing to fill the home board with as many points as you can, in order for the opponent to have fewer or none empty spaces where he could place his checkers in case you hit him.
Another important thing is to build anchors and primes. The anchors will make things more difficult for the opponent when trying to create home board points, and also may give you a better chance to hit one of the opponent’s blot, and send the checker all the way back to your home board. In addition to this, having a prime also gives you a chance to keep the opponent blocked, not allowing him to advance with that checker. The bigger the prime is, the better. Also, it is important to keep an even number of checkers inside the home board, in case you roll a double, and the opponent has an anchor.
Hitting is almost always a good thing, even when you must decide weather to make a hit in the opponent’s side of the board or to make a point in your home board. This will make the gap between you to work in your favor.
