Backgammon Opening Moves

Anyone that plays backgammon knows how important the backgammon opening moves
are and there are quite a few experts with opinions on this. When it comes down to it,
there are ways to ensure your opening move will help you win the game if you play
properly. You have to study opening moves and remember where to use them to your
benefit.

Playing a 3 and a 1, a 6 and a 1 or a 4 and a 2 have been proven over the years of how to
play them but for all other moves you will find there is quite a bit of debate as to how
they should be played. This is when the decision is not so clear and you will find there
are some different plays.

With a 3 and a 1 you make your five-point, which most agree is the most important point
to make but any other 3 and 1 puts you at risk of getting hit. Backgammon is a race
around the board to see who can remove all their checkers first and getting hit early in the
game will not determine the winner or loser. That will be determined by the plays you
make in between.

The second most important point is 6 and 1. This makes your bar point - any other move
leaves exposed blots. With a 6 and a 2 you make four point, which is also an important
point. With a 6 and a five you will run a back checker all the way and leave no exposed
blots.

At one time there use to be a lot of debate on how to play an opening move of a 5 and 3.
Many experts believed that making the 3- point was wrong. They thought that the player
was better off making several other moves that gave him/her more flexibility and that
would place the checkers in better strategic places for the next move he/she wanted to
make. It was soon discovered that there were two problems with this kind of move. The
first one was that it left exposed blots and if it was hit it gave the opponent an immediate
advantage. The second was that the opportunity to make the 3- point had been passed up.
The 3-point, while not as critical as the bar, five, and four points is still good to have.
Today there is an agreement that the three-point you can make with your 5 and 3 is good
regardless of the score.