It’s the most satisfying moment in the game. You roll the dice. You spot a lone checker on the board. You land on it. Bam. That piece is gone.
In backgammon, that isolated piece is called a blot. It’s a single checker sitting on a point without a partner. If you land on it, you’ve made a hit. Your opponent’s checker doesn’t just disappear; it gets sent to the bar.
And now, the fun begins for her.
She can’t touch any other pieces. She can’t advance her other checkers toward home. She can’t do anything until that lone warrior from the bar gets back into the game. This is where the tension spikes.
Why hitting a blot matters in backgammon strategy
The bar is a prison. To get out, your opponent must re-enter the checker into her home board. But she can’t just pick any spot. She has to roll a number that matches an open point in her home board.
Here’s how it plays out. Let’s say her 1, 2, and 3 points are open. That means she can enter a checker there. If she rolls a 4 and a 6, she’s stuck. Neither number corresponds to an open point in her home board. Her turn ends. She rolls nothing. She does nothing.
If she rolls a 6 and a 2, she gets lucky. She moves the checker from the bar onto her 2-point. Now she’s back in the game.
But what if you’re aggressive? What if you hit two checkers? Or three?
She has to bring them all back. Every single one. Before she moves anything else, every blot you sent to the bar must return to the board. If she can only re-enter some of them, she does that. Then she forfeits the rest of her turn. No excuses.
Once the last checker is back, she gets to use any leftover dice numbers. She can move the checker she just entered. Or she can move a different one. The choice is hers. But the damage is done.
How to use hits to win the race
This is why backgammon isn’t just a board game. It’s a psychological war. While you’re hunting her blots, she’s hunting yours. You’re both trying to knock each other off the board.
Remember the core mechanic: backgammon is a race. You’re trying to get all your checkers to your home board so you can bear them off. That’s how you win.
Hitting her checkers slows her down. Every time she has to re-enter from the bar, she loses precious time. She’s not moving forward. She’s just trying to get back on the field. You’re gaining ground while she’s stuck in the mud.
It’s simple math. More hits mean more delays for her. More delays mean a better chance for you to cross the finish line first.
Don’t just play safe. Look for the blots. Take the shot.
