Backgammon, escaping the back checkers

Last updated on October 1, 2025

In this Deluxe Backgammon post for beginners, we discuss one of the key tasks of basic checker play, which is escaping your back checkers. This is about moving the back checkers from the 24-point to a safe position outside of your opponent’s home board. It is impossible to win at backgammon without achieving this task, as you need all of your checkers in your home board before you can start bearing off. The back checkers have the furthest distance to travel before they can bear off. The longer they stay within your opponent’s home board, the more likely they are to be blocked by a prime. Therefore, it is generally best to try and escape them early in the game.

When a player fails to escape their back checkers or is well behind in the race, they can fall back to a back game strategy. This involves securing at least two points in the opponent’s home board. You then wait and hope to force your opponent to leave a loose checker or blot late in the game. Hitting this blot, with a strong home board of your own, is hopefully enough to turn the game in your favour.

Blocking

In the early part of the game, rolls such as 5-5 are often blocked from escaping. Therefore, it is considered an excellent strategy to secure an advanced anchor, such as on the 18, 20 or 21 points, from where a big double can escape and from where you have a better chance of hitting blots in the outer board quadrants. This will involve splitting your back checkers with a low roll of 1-4 and hoping to secure the point on a subsequent roll. If you can secure the point as an advanced anchor, you have a safe haven for re-entering your own checkers from the bar. It also gives you the option of playing a holding game, where you stay back and wait for late-hitting opportunities.

At the same time, if you are looking to escape your back checkers, you should be building a board which prevents your opponent from doing the same. In order to do this, you need to secure certain key points. There are several important points that one should attempt to secure early in the game to make it difficult for your opponent to escape. The key points in order of importance are the 5-point, the bar or 7-point and the 4-point. If these points are held, it is the start of a strong blocking position. Keeping in mind that the 6-point is also likely to still be secure, that gives you four consecutive secure points, which is known as a prime.

Primes

A “prime” is a sequence of consecutive secure points – typically four, five or six in a row. It is strategically created to block an opponent’s escape. A “six prime” is the most effective prime, involving six consecutive points. Once a player’s checkers are trapped behind a six prime, they are compelled to wait until their opponent is forced to deconstruct the prime. This usually occurs during the process of bearing off. This makes six primes highly advantageous for players, as they can significantly limit their opponent’s options and increase their chances of winning (Prime at Backgammon Galore).

When to escape?

The two most vulnerable checkers in a game of backgammon are the ones on the 24-point. This is simply because they have the longest distance to travel to reach their home board. They need to pass through the opponent’s home board and both outer boards, where they can be easily attacked or blocked. As a result, it is important early in the game to mobilise them and bring them home as quickly as possible. There are several ways to escape your back checkers early in the game.

First, you can rely on luck, with an opening reply of 6-6, 4-4 or 3-3. These will allow you to safely escape both back checkers from your opponent’s home board. However, relying on luck is taking a risk. Another option is to run with high opening rolls, such as the 6-5, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2. All of these allow you to escape one of the back checkers into the outer board. The 6-5, also known as the Lover’s Leap, is the best of these options as it will take one of the back checkers to the safety of the 13-point. These running moves leave one checker isolated in the home board. However, the remaining checker you would hope to escape in a similar fashion on a subsequent roll.

Splitting

Another option, which works with lower rolls, is to split the back checkers (Splitting at the USBGF). For example, a roll of 5-4 would allow you to move a checker safely down from the mid-point to the 8-point and move a back checker forward to the 20-point. In this example, you hope to cover the 20-point with the remaining back checker on a subsequent roll. Splitting gives you the option of securing an advanced anchor in your opponent’s home board. Some of the moves we have just discussed leave blots, which are, of course, vulnerable to being hit. However, your opponent will not always take the opportunity, as we will see in the next paragraph (Advanced Anchor at Learn.Play.Win).

Hitting

Imagine the 5-4 split mentioned above. In this case, you have split your back checkers, leaving one on the 20-point and one on the 1-point. If your opponent rolls 3-1, they will hit and secure the checker on the 20-point. This captures one of their key points and prevents you from creating an advanced anchor. However, if they roll a 3-2, they can hit the checker on the 1-point. This is something they would be very unlikely to do because they would be vulnerable to a return hit on 30.55% of the time. This sends them to the bar, a step back of 24 pips in the race. Compare this to the 1 pip setback they gained by hitting your checker, and it’s simply not worth this risk (Backgammon hitting at HowStuffWorks).

Back checkers that you may have run into the outer which are left as blots, are almost certainly going to be hit. The probability of you hitting on re-entry is very low, so it is worth your opponent taking the risk. Remember that the time to take calculated risks is early in the game when you have the time to make a strategic recovery.