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Backgammon, Chess and Adrenaline RushIs backgammon essentially inferior board game than the game of kings? Crushed does not think so, and he presents convincing argumentations to contradict this common axiom and introduces his approach to chess and backgammon strategies.
Backgammon vs. Chess
Serious board game players, graduates of the chess is the greatest game of all school, often look down on the luck factor of the game. But what is so bad about submitting to the dice (or in Crushed words, becoming "victims of fortune") instead of following a preplanned series of moves as in chess?
Crushed is probably not the first backgammon supporter who thinks that the fickleness of the dice is what makes the game more interesting, more exciting, and eventually, makes backgammon resemble more to life and more suitable for the 21st century. Backgammon, there is not just the dice; it is also the offer-take/refuse negotiating that accelerates the adrenaline rush of backgammon players.
Basically, backgammon and chess require similar skill: visual memory, mathematical thinking, strategy skill, ability to plan at least two moves ahead, etc. Backgammon also calls for capability to adjust one's strategy to the changing circumstances. And that what makes backgammon closer to war than chess (though theoretically, chess is a board member of the war games family, while backgammon is a race game).
Strategies
When playing chess, Crushed plays a "win or lose strategy". Instead of castling to defend the king, he puts him upfront, protected by the freedom of movement provided by the eight vacant squares surrounding it. At the same time, he brings all of his heavy pieces to the opponent's area, willing to sacrifice most of them, except for the three designated to checkmate the opposite king.
In backgammon, he focuses on blocking the opponent's back checkers rather than moving forward his back checkers and limiting the rival's enters by hitting as often as possible, thus reducing the available numbers for them to re-enter from the bar and causing them to skip turns. If everything goes according to plan, your home board will be protected and half of your opponent's checkers will be waiting vainly in the bar. But the nice thing about backgammon is that things hardly go according to plan.
- More backgammon and chess comparisons
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