Backgammon variant: Blast Off
Backgammon is not only played in just one set manner. In fact, there are many game variations to backgammon. These variations have been devised as a way of offering more variety to the gameplay being performed on the board. For people who may want a little change of pace to the traditional rules, the variations are a welcome change.One very simple backgammon variant that was devised by both Oswald Jacoby and John Crawford is Blastoff. This game was described in their best selling book The Backgammon Book. This game is geared more towards children who are just beginning to learn the various moves of backgammon.
The game’s setup is actually the same as in backgammon except for some little changes. For example, each player’s to back men, which were formerly on the opponent’s one point, are now brought forward and joined to the five men on the mid point.
The game play of Blast Off goes through just like in a regular backgammon game except for the fact that blots may not be hit. With this element, the game play element is mainly based on luck and it is really depends largely on which player rolls the higher dice. Of course there is a little amount of skill that is involved based on how you figure out which positions to put your checkers so that you get the most efficient bearoff.
When Blast off is played with a doubling cube, this variant becomes a helpful tool on when to double or not in running games.
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Posted on August 29, 2006 by Nigel | Filed Under Backgammon, Strategy, tips
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