Hitting Your Opponent's Backgammon Checkers

There is no better way to slow your opponent down in backgammon than by hitting his checkers. You can do this by moving one of your checkers directly to a space on the backgammon board occupied by one of your opponent's. A checker once hit is referred to as a blot.

The following scenario illustrates the ease in which a player can hit a blot. If a player rolls the backgammon dice and gets a 2 and a 4, he can move one of his checkers two spaces to a point occupied by a blot. He can remove the blot from the backgammon board, placing it on the bar that separates the board in half. Then with the 4, he can move to another point.

Knowing how to hit blots is a useful piece of backgammon strategy because once removed from the board, a blot must remain on the bar. Your opponent is unable to move any of his other checkers until he introduces the blot back into the game. If you are close to bringing your own checkers to your home board and preparing to bear off, hitting your opponent's checkers will slow him down, giving you valuable time in the backgammon race. For this reason, hitting blots is an important aspect of backgammon and you should keep close watch to ensure you don't miss any opportunities.