Backgammon Dictionary

Introduction to Backgammon

Luck or Skill?

Improving Your Game

Using the Doubling Cube

Chouettes

melBG  -our Backgammon Club
 

Backgammon Dictionary

#applies to all forms of the game
Tapplies to tournament play
Cvery common
$money games only
Ooptional rule - ask before playing

Automatic Double ("auto") $O
The cube is turned once each time the opening dice throws result in a double. Example: if the players start by rolling 33, 66, 11, then 53, the cube will start on 8, thus multiplying the basic stake 8 times.
Back Game *
A player who falls behind in the race may decide he can't win with better dice, and decide to make points in the opponents home board, hoping to hit his opponent and keep him on the bar while he brings his men home. Requires a high level of skill to execute, and often results in the loss of a gammon.
Bar ("the bar") *
Where checkers go when they're hit. Equivalent to point number 0. No checker can move while the player has a man on the bar.
Bar Point
My 7 point is my bar point.
Backgammon
A triple game. At the end, the loser has a man on the bar or in his home board, and has not borne a man off. quite rare.
Bear-off
The process of removing men from the board at the end of the game. A player wins by being the first to bear off all his men.
Beaver $O
An immediate redouble, whereby the player who is doubled immediately turns the cube again, while retaining possession of the cube
Blot
A single checker, ie one which is vulnerable.
Break
As in "to break a prime". A move which reduces the size of a prime which is impeding the progress of the opponent's pieces.
Chouette $
A special form of the game, usually for money, where several players play against each other using a single board.
Cocked ("cocked dice")
Thrown dice which are not lying flat or which ended up outside the permitted area. Minor imperfections in the playing surface are usually overlooked.
Contact
A contact position is one whether there remains the possibility of a piece being hit and sent to the bar.
Crawford
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Dance
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Diversify
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Double (I)
A roll where both numbers are the same. The player must play that number 4 times.
Double (II)
An offer to double the value of the game. The opponent may drop or take, or beaver if club rules allow.
Drop
To decline a double, losing the number of points indicated by the cube
Enter
To play a man off the bar
Equity
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Gammon
A double game, achieved when the loser has not yet borne even one man off.
Home Board
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Jacoby Rule
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Outer Board
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Pip
One space on the board. When you move a man 5 spaces, you have moved it 5 pips, and your pipcount decreases by 5.
Pipcount
A measure of how "far" you are from winning the game. Each piece has a pip-value between 1 and 24 depending on its board location. The total of those values is the pipcount. The lower the number, the quicker you will likely get you men into your home board and starting bearing off.
Point
2 men in the same place, making them safe from attack.
Point On
To hit a blot with 2 of your men, forming a point.
Prime
A consecutive sequence of points, making it hard for the opposing pieces to get past. A 6 point prime is impassable, while 5, 4, or broken (with gaps) primes can be very powerful too.
Race
In a game where there is no or minimal contact, the winner is the one who rolls the best dice. The race is on!
Raccoon
Your opponent has beavered, and you think he's nuts. Raccoon!
Depending on club rules, the sky's the limit ...
Rollout
To evaluate a position by playing many games starting from that layout. Usually peformed by computer programs.
Run
To elect to run for home rather than leave a point or blot inside your opponent's home board (see "stay")
Slot
To place a blot in the middle of the enemy checkers, hoping to reduce his freedom of action and perhaps score a hit.
Split
A more or less risky play which moves a man from a safe point to form a blot, usually for the purpose of maximising the chance to hit the opponent.
Stack
The pile up checkers on one or more points.
Stay
To elect to leave a point or blot inside your opponent's home board, hoping to get a shot (see "run")
Steaming
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Take
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Timing
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Beginners Guide to Backgammon
Backgammon is a two-player game, and is basically a race. Dice rolls determine the moves each player can make. Rather than being a simple speed contest, there are many strategies players can employ to win the game. The player who first brings all the pieces to the finish line is the winner. More about that later.

The backgammon board has 24 positions or points. Each player numbers the points in order so that 24 is the farthest away, 1 the closest. A player's "home board" comprises points 1-6. Points are usually referred to by number. My the "5 point" is in my home board, and is the "20 point" for my opponent.
A few points have special names, such as the "bar point" or the "mid point".

At the start of each game, each player rolls one die until different numbers come up. To be legal, dice must lie flat on the board, and be on the players right. The player who rolled the higher number has first move, using both the numbers rolled. When the player is satisfied with the move, he picks up the dice, and then it's the other player's turn. Illegal plays are handled in various ways, depending on club rules.

Moving around the board
Backgammon pieces are variously referred to as men, pieces, or checkers. Checkers are moved forward the number of pips indicated by the dice, with each number being played separately.
If the player rolls a "double", that number is played 4 times.
If only one number can be legally moved, then the larger must be used.
Both numbers must be played if at all possible. The numbers may be played in either order.
Pieces can land either on vacant points, or on points occupied by 1 enemy piece, which is sent all the way back to the beginning (hitting). Hit pieces are placed on the bar, which is the ridge running down the middle of the board.
Any number which cannot be legally played is ignored.
If a player has a piece on the bar, that piece must be moved first.
If that piece cannot be played (because all the points corresponding to the dice numbers have 2 or more opposing pieces on them), then the player must forfeit his turn.

Luck or skill?
Arguments rage over whether backgammon is primarily a game of skill, or mainly luck? The argument goes, that since backgammon is based on random dice, it must be largely luck. This is incorrect! Most games incorporate random elements, with only a few (chess, go) with no random component at all. Does anyone claim that bridge, for example, is simply a game of luck?

I prefer the following criterion: If an "expert" can be reasonably confident of defeating a "weaker player" over the long or medium term in a certain game, then the skill factor is paramount. If the result is essentially unpredictable, ie the weaker player regularly beats the "expert", then we must conclude that since the expert's skill has little effect, the game is primarily luck.

If you accept this, then you must accept that backgammon and poker are definitely games of skill, while bridge is mainly luck.

Bridge a game of luck???? I used to be a keen rubber and tournament bridge player. (Quite a few years ago, I was privileged to rub shoulders with some of the world's top players, while not pretending to be anywhere near their level. I occasionally played with icons such as Rixi Markus). Any experienced bridge pair will tell you that given good cards, they will beat world champions. Give them 2 consecutive hands with over 26 points, and the rubber is in the bag! Seat a poker expert at a table with 5 mediocre players, and at the end of the evening s/he is almost guaranteed to have won all their money. Similarly, a backgammon expert is very unlikely to lose to a much weaker player over the course of a 9-point match.

Some tips for playing a better game

Using the doubling cube

Club Etiquette
Every tournament and club has its own "house rules". Our club, melBG, is no exception.