Backgammon back game: how to play it, and when to avoid it

A back game is the plan you are left with when you trail the race by a lot and hold two or more anchors in your opponent's home board, usually deep ones. You cannot win the race, so you keep those points and wait for your opponent to leave a shot as they bring their checkers home and start bearing off. If you hit it and contain the checker, the game turns around.

It is the fifth of the game plans in backgammon strategy, where it is described as the last resort; this page is the full guide to that plan. It is a plan you usually fall into after being hit several times, not one you aim for from the opening.

A back game is the most extreme waiting plan in backgammon. It can win games that look lost, but when it fails it often fails badly: the checkers that waited too long can cost you a gammon or even a backgammon.

The holding game and the back game both wait for a shot from the far side of the board, and players often confuse them. The table sums up the difference.

In a holding game, one advanced anchor and a modest trail mean you tend to hit the first good shot. In a back game you are much further behind, so an early hit often helps less than it seems: your opponent still has plenty of checkers in the outfield to fight back, and you may not yet have the board to contain the checker. You usually want a later shot, when their position is thinner and your board is ready. If one of your anchors is an advanced point such as your 20-point, the game often plays more like a holding game; see which anchor is best.

Few players choose a back game on purpose. It usually comes from a position where you were hit several times early: you have extra checkers back, the race has swung far against you, and you have managed to make two points in your opponent's board. Before settling into it, ask whether you have something better:

• Can you still make an advanced anchor, or run? If you can anchor on your 20- or 21-point, a holding game is usually the healthier plan. If a big roll lets you escape back checkers and the race is not hopeless, compare with the race first (how to count pips).
• Is your timing good or bad? A back game with good timing can be a real fighting position. One where your other checkers are already deep in your home board, with no spare moves left, tends to collapse before the shot comes (see the timing section below).
• How much does a gammon cost you? In a money game, a back game often risks a gammon. In a match, the score changes that: at double match point a gammon counts no more than a single loss, while at other scores it can cost you the match. See match play and gammons and the cube.
• Do you have two anchors, or one anchor and blots? A back game needs two points. Two or three loose checkers in their home board are targets for a blitz, not a back game.

Back games are named by the two points you hold in your opponent's home board, counted from their side: their 1-point is your 24-point, their 2-point your 23-point, their 3-point your 22-point. So a 1-3 back game holds your 24- and 22-points, a 2-3 back game your 23- and 22-points, and a 1-2 back game your 24- and 23-points. (Move notation uses your own numbering.)

Which pair is stronger depends on the whole position, but the usual tendencies are:

• 2-3 and 1-3 back games are usually considered the stronger pairings. Holding their 3-point puts one anchor a little further forward, where it watches more of the points your opponent needs as they bear in.
• The 1-2 back game is usually the weakest of the three. Both anchors are as deep as they can be, they watch fewer of the points your opponent needs, and your checkers there are the furthest from home — which makes the gammon and backgammon risk heavier if the shot never comes.
• Pairs that include their 4- or 5-point (your 21- or 20-point) sit closer to a holding game: an advanced anchor already sees outfield shots, and you may not need to wait as long. The anchors guide compares each single point.

Two anchors are enough. A third point, or many extra checkers stuck deep, can cost timing and raise the gammon risk without giving you a clearer shot.

Timing is how many spare moves you can still play without breaking what matters: your two anchors and your home-board points. In a back game it decides almost everything. You may wait many rolls for your shot, and every one of those rolls has to be played somewhere.

• Good timing means you still have spare checkers to move — in the outfield, or extra checkers on your anchors — so you can keep both anchors and your home board while you wait.
• Bad timing means your other checkers are already home. You are forced to pile them onto your lowest points or break your board, so when the shot finally comes you have nothing left to contain the checker with.
• Being hit can help. A checker of yours sent to the bar has to come around again, which gives you more moves to play before your board crunches. That is one of the odd features of back games: a hit that would hurt in another position can buy you time.

Count the race before you settle into a back game (how to count pips). There is no pip number that marks good timing: what matters is whether your spare checkers can keep moving until your opponent starts to bear in, while your board stays intact.

Once you are in a back game, the plan has a few jobs:

• Keep both anchors while the plan is alive. Two points give you the best chance of a shot and a safe place to enter. Breaking one early usually leaves you with neither a back game nor a race.
• Keep your home board in shape. Build it from the higher points when you can, and try not to bury checkers on your 1- and 2-points. A shot is only worth hitting if you can contain the checker afterward.
• Wait for the right shot. Early in your opponent's bear-in, a loose hit can leave you with blots in your own board and a checker you cannot contain. You often do better passing a shot like that and waiting for a later one, when their position is thinner and your board is ready. That is the opposite of the holding game, where you tend to hit promptly.
• Hit the late shot, then contain. When the shot you waited for comes, hit and switch to containment: close points, build a prime in front of the checker, and bring your anchors home in time. The general question of when to hit still applies.
• Know when to give up. If your opponent is bearing in smoothly and shots look unlikely, or your board has already crunched, start running your back checkers to save the gammon. Bearing off a single checker before your opponent finishes turns a gammon into a single loss, and getting every checker out of their home board and off the bar avoids a backgammon (see the rules).

When your opponent holds two anchors in your home board, you lead the race by a lot and your job is to come home without leaving the late shot they are waiting for. A few habits help:

• Bear in safely, not quickly. With a big race lead, you can afford to spend rolls playing safe. Bring checkers in so that each point you need is covered, and keep spare checkers flexible. See bearing off against contact.
• Avoid gaps in your home board. A gap between your points leaves you with awkward numbers that can force a blot later. Spread your checkers over your points rather than stacking them on one.
• Clear points from the back. Clear your outer-board points first, then your highest home-board points, so the checkers left behind are not exposed to their anchors. Plan the order several rolls ahead.
• Think twice before hitting loose. Hitting one of their spare checkers can sometimes give them back timing they were short of. Hit when it wins something clear, such as a real gammon chance or a safer position, not out of habit.
• Watch direct and indirect shots. A blot within six pips of an anchor is hit by 11 to 17 rolls out of 36 on an open board; indirect shots (7 pips or more) by 6 or fewer (the shot chart). When you must leave something, leave the smallest shot you can.

Even with good technique you will sometimes leave a shot: back games exist because some shots cannot be avoided. If you are hit late, the game is not necessarily lost — you still lead the race, and much depends on how well your opponent can contain your checker.

The doubling cube in a back game turns on timing, the strength of both boards and the gammon risk — not on a single number. The engine at the real score is the clean check, and there is no one take point that covers every back game.

• The leader often has a strong double when the back-game side has poor timing, or has lost the means to contain a hit. The take is then about more than shots: it is about whether the trailer can avoid a gammon.
• Gammons weigh heavily on the take. Because a failed back game often loses a gammon, a take that looks fine on shot chances alone can be wrong once gammons are counted. Good timing and a strong board make the take more reasonable; bad timing makes it much worse.
• After a late hit, the cube can swing. The back-game side may suddenly be the favorite, especially with a closed or nearly closed board. Read the position again before the next roll.
• Match score changes everything. At scores where a gammon costs you little extra, a back game is easier to accept; at scores where a gammon decides the match, it is much harder. See the cube in match play and gammons and the cube.

Back-game sense comes from counting the race, judging your timing, keeping your board while you wait, choosing which shot to hit, and knowing when to give up and save the gammon. On Megammon you can play the bot with no sign-up, play a friend, or play ranked matches online. During play, both pip counts are shown by default, so you can check the race every time.

New to the five plans? Start with backgammon strategy. Holding only one advanced anchor? Read the holding game guide. Want the anchors themselves? Open backgammon anchors. The rules cover gammons and backgammons if you need the basics first.