Anchors That Operate on the Enemy Board

Backgammon anchors can make our play more exciting and fun, especially when they begin to be effective in the game. We have to know how anchors help us win in the game.

Anchors are actually primes we set or plant or establish on the enemy home board. When a point on the enemy home board is occupied by two or more of our checkers it is called an anchor. When a point is occupied by two or more of our checkers on our home board it is called a prime.

Thus, primes and anchors are almost the same, except in location. Primes are on our home board and anchors are on the enemy home board. Both can be deadly against the opponent. Both, too, can be a detriment to our victory. So we have to know how the proper use of anchors.

First, in backgammon, we always start from the enemy home board going to our own home board. While on the enemy home board, we may want to "plant" some booby traps while we still have enough checkers on it. At the outset of a game backgammon anchors are not that effective; no enemy checkers are yet on the enemy home board. But once they start coming in we better have some anchors planted somewhere to enemy blots with.

It's like a shooting gallery. Once enemy checkers land on points on the enemy board singly they become easy targets for hitting. Because our anchors have two or more checkers on a point the enemy cannot occupy or hit the same point. If lone enemy checkers land nearby our anchor we may hit them with one of our checker piece.

For an effective and safe anchoring strategy we should have 4 to 5 checkers on a point as anchor. When we use a piece for hitting we must make sure to send another piece to accompany that piece on the point. This prevents any piece from being a blot. Two allied pieces make an anchor and keeps them safe from being hit.

But anchors must never stay long on the enemy board. We must dismantle them soon and take them to our home board. Remember that winning in backgammon is winning its race. We must be able to bear off all our pieces before the opponent does.

Backgammon anchors are fun to have as a base from which to make hits right on the enemy board. But we must know their limitations and proper use.