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Plakoto · Variants

Plakoto pin strategy

A pin on the opponent's starting checker is the famous Plakoto danger. It can trap a side so badly that racing alone is not enough.

6 min · 6 steps

This is the written edition of an interactive Boardgammon lesson — in the app, the coach narrates while you play every move on a live board.

Step 1 · The mother checker

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On the board: Mother pin

A pin on the opponent's starting checker is the famous Plakoto danger. It can trap a side so badly that racing alone is not enough.

Coach narration

Step 2 · Why is this powerful?

Black has a starting checker pinned under White. What should White do with this pin?

Choose the strategic value of the pin.

Quick check

  • Keep the checker trapped while building the race
  • Release it as soon as possible
  • Force Black to enter from the bar
Show the correct answer

Correct answer: Keep the checker trapped while building the race — Correct. A strong pin can freeze the opponent while you bring checkers home.

  • Release it as soon as possible — Sometimes you must leave, but a valuable pin is usually pressure worth preserving.
  • Force Black to enter from the bar — Pinned checkers are not bar checkers. They are stuck on that point.

Coach narration

Step 3 · Keep pressure

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A useful pin is not a reason to stop moving. Use spare checkers while the pinned checker stays trapped.

Tap roll to reveal 2-1.

The roll: 2-1

Coach narration

Step 4 · Move a spare checker

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On the board: Spare checker

Move from the big stack. Notice the pin holds by itself: White's checker sits on its own point at the far corner, so it never needs to leave until bear-off. That is what makes a mother pin so strong.

Use the 2: tap a checker from the large stack, then tap Land here.

The roll: 2-1

The move: 24/22

Good. White improved the race without releasing the mother checker.

Common mistake: That checker stays put. Use a spare checker from the large stack.

Coach narration

Step 5 · Play the 1 as well

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On the board: Play the 1

The 1 also plays from the stack. Every die can move while the pin quietly does its work.

Use the 1: tap the highlighted stack, then tap Land here one point ahead.

The roll: 2-1

The move: 24/23

Both dice played, and the pin never moved.

Common mistake: The 1 is still unplayed. Move another checker from the large stack one point forward.

Coach narration

Step 6 · Pins change the race

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Here is the real danger. If White clears every checker off its own starting corner while Black's first checker is still pinned, White wins immediately, and it counts as a double win. Until then, count more than pips: ask which pinned checker matters, whether leaving releases it, and whether a made block is safer than a loose pin.

Coach narration

What you learned

You can now read a Plakoto position strategically: pin value, release timing, made blocks, and mother-checker danger.

Coach narration