Understanding the Backgammon Point

In every backgammon game, players try to gain an advantage over their opponents by getting to those points on the board that have strategic and positional value, i.e. the best backgammon moves. Right at the beginning of the game both players would have similar positions on the board, occupying two rows of five checkers and one row of three. From that point onwards, the players scramble to occupy the best backgammon point on the board; from the generally central cluster, they try to fan their checkers to the vital locations on the board.

This is one point where strategy becomes important. As a player, you have to be able to identify which would be the best spots on the board for your checkers, and try and occupy those spots before your rival places his checkers there. So which is actually the best backgammon point for you to get to? At the initial stages of the game, the best backgammon spot is the five-pointer that you will find located on your homeboard. You must try to reach this five-pointer with at least two of your checkers, so you can close out the point to your rival.

Besides reaching your five-pointer, you must also aim to reach your rival's five-pointer. Thereby, you are occupying strategic enemy territory and can really aim to choke off your rival's game. However, the five-pointer is not the only backgammon point that you can aim for. There are other points you can target, such as the seven-pointer and the four-pointer. However, these have lesser strategic importance than the five-pointer. From this, it follows that the best backgammon point you can aim for is the five-pointer.