Sometimes the right plan is not to build patiently but to attack with everything. The blitz is backgammon's cavalry charge: hit your opponent's loose checkers, slam home-board points shut behind them, and keep them on the bar until the game is over. Played at the right moment it wins gammons in bunches. Played at the wrong moment it hands the game away. Here is how to tell the difference.
A blitz is an all-out attack against enemy checkers caught in or near your home board without an anchor. The recipe has two ingredients, applied at once and repeatedly: hit their blots so they lose ground and lose tempo on the bar, and make home-board points so re-entry gets harder with every exchange. Each point you close turns the bar into more of a prison. The dream finish is the closeout: all six of your home points made with one or two enemy checkers stuck on the bar, unable to enter at all. From there you usually win, and very often win a gammon, because your opponent's stranded checkers never get home in time to bear one off.
A blitz is a calculated investment: you throw safety aside for speed, so the conditions need to be right.
Several standard opening sequences lead straight into blitz positions, for example when your opponent splits to your 5-point or bar point early, hitting and pointing on those checkers is often the principled response.
The most efficient stroke in a blitz is pointing on a checker, colloquially putting a point on their head: an enemy blot sits on your 4-point, and you roll a number that lets two of your checkers land there together. One roll hits the checker and makes the point. Your opponent is on the bar facing a stronger board, and you spent no extra tempo on safety. When you have a choice between a quiet positional play and pointing on a loose checker in a blitz, the attack is usually right. Doubles shine here: a well-timed 4-4 or 2-2 can make two points or hit twice, and rolls like that are why blitzes can end games inside ten moves.
Every blitz has a moment of truth. If your opponent anchors, the attack is over: stop throwing checkers at their board, consolidate your structure, and convert your lead into a priming or racing game. If the attack stalls with your blots scattered, prioritize safety for a roll or two and regroup. The blitz is one weapon in the arsenal, not an identity, and the best attackers are the quickest to switch plans when the position says so. The strategy guide covers how the blitz, the prime, and the race trade off against each other.
Blitzes are where bold and reckless sit closest together, and intuition alone will not tell you which side of the line you are on. Play on Backgammon Battles and the free move-by-move analysis grades every hit, every loose play, and every blitz cube, so you learn exactly when your aggression pays and when it leaks. Attack, review, repeat.
Free ranked matches with provably fair dice and free analysis that grades every hit and every blitz cube you turn.
Play backgammon freeAn all-out attack on loose enemy checkers: hit their blots and make home-board points fast, keeping them on the bar while your board closes. It often ends in a closeout and a gammon.
When their back checkers are split with no anchor and you have builders ready to make points. The window closes the moment your opponent anchors.
Making a home-board point directly on top of an enemy blot, hitting it and securing the point in a single roll. It is the most efficient move in any blitz.
See where the blitz fits among the game plans →
Learn to cube your attacks properly →
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