There is only one thing more beautiful than a 6-point prime with 2 of your opponent’s checkers behind it, and that’s a 6-point prime with more than 2 behind it! One of the best strategies to winning a game, and also gammons and backgammons, is to prime your opponent. The problem is, your opponents know this too, and they have the same goal as you, and they also, out of shear nastiness, try to prevent you from making a prime. Just about everyone who plays backgammon knows the benefits of making a 6-prime, but only very skilled players are able to get to that position very often. There are specific strategies and plays that will lead to making primes. And there are specific strategies that help you prevent your opponent form making primes. How to Prevent your Opponent from Making the Prime Let’s talk about the strategies that will help you make primes. The first, and key principal, is to keep your points together. You start out with your 6 and 8 points made, so the best way to develop your game into a prime is to make the adjacent points…the 7 and 5 point are key, but the 9 and 4 points are also important. Far too often people make the mistake of using their builders (extra checkers) to make points that are disjointed, and this make the potential for a prime very difficult. Remember, the next best thing to a 6-point prime is a 5-point prime, and the next best thing to that is a 4-point prime. Take a look at the position below, and how do you think Black should play 4-4? A lot of players make the mistake of making the 2-point. Sure, it is tempting to hit your opponent and make a point at the same time, especially when you can use the rest of your 4-4’s to make the 4 point. But this play puts Black in a position that makes it very hard to make a prime. The better play is simply to move the back checkers up to White’s 5-point, and move two checkers down from the 13 to the 9 point. Now, you have your 9 point made and you have spares on your 8 and 6 point to help you make more points, especially the 5 and 4 points, and that gives you a good chance to make a 5 or 6 point prime. Even from the opening roll, you have to be thinking about what plays help you make your points in order. Experts call this “playing pretty.” You try to get to “nice looking” positions, and those are positions where you make your points together. If you have a board that looks like “Swiss cheese” where the points are made apart, that is what we call an “ugly game.” One of the worst opening rolls you can get is 2-1, but according to the experts and the computer programs, the right play is to bring one down from your 13 point and slot a checker on your 5 point. Yes, it’s not good if your opponent rolls a 4 and hits you, but if he doesn’t you stand an excellent chance to make your 5 point, and that’s key to building a prime. Take a look at Position 2 below, and decide how Black should play 6-4. If you said you would make your bar point (7 point) you win a lollipop! That means you’ve been listening to me. Of course you could also make your 2 point, but that would be a very big error. Again, you would be making an “ugly game.” Sometimes to “play a pretty game” means taking some risks, but when it pays off, the risks are worth it. Now, let’s see if we’ve learned anything. Take a look at Position 3 and see how you think White should play 6-5. If you’ve been paying attention, you will make your 5 point with this roll. Here’s a good rule of thumb for you: most of the time, if you can make your 5 point, it’s the right play. And those few times where it isn’t the right play, it’s not too far off from the best play. In this case, again, it’s an important point to have if you want to make a prime. The alternative play here is to run your back checker to the midpoint, but racing is not the key strategy here…it’s making that prime and holding your opponent back. Now, let’s take a look at an entire different kind of problem. In Position 4, Black has a 6-4 to play. What’s your play? It’s very tempting to hit here, playing 24/14*, but it’s wrong. The best play is to make your opponent’s bar point. Why? For all the reasons we’ve been talking about. Just as it is important for you to make your points in order to that you can make primes, it’s equally important for your opponent. So your goal is not only to try to make your points in order and make a prime, but also to prevent your opponent from doing just that. Here you guarantee that your opponent cannot make a prime by making one of the key points right smack dab in the center of where he has already made points. As long as you hold his bar point, White has no chance to make a prime. It’s well worth passing up the hit to make such an important stronghold. The Lesson So the lesson here is: make your points in order; don’t throw checkers away to your 1 and 2 point unless you are forced to; making a prime often take priority over hitting or bringing your checkers to safety; and making sure your opponent cannot make a prime is just as important as making them for yourselves. Happy rolling!

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