Backgammon Glossary

Acey Duecy – A roll of either a 1 or 2 with a dice.

Anchors – when there are two or more dice left on your opponent’s home board.

Backgammon – victory for a player, who has not borne off any of his men, and still has a man or more in the winner’s home board / bar.

Bar – The middle of the backgammon board where the checkers (men) are placed once they have been hit.

Bearing Off – The process of removing checkers (men) once they have all reached your home board.

Beavers – A Backgammon Rule used during match play which states, a player that has accepted a double may immediately re-double.

Blockade – 6 or more consecutive points, occupied by two or more checkers (men), which prevent an opponent’s checkers from advancing, thus halting their progress.

Blot – A point occupied by a single checker (man) which is vulnerable to being hit. If a blot is hit by an opponent’s man the checkers is then placed upon the bar.

Box – This is a term used in Chouettes play or a team backgammon match. The player chosen to play as the box plays alone against the opposing team led by the captain. If the player wins he stays in the box. If he loses he joins the team as a regular player.

Box Cars – A term used for a dice roll of 6-6.

Captain – A term used for Chouettes play or team backgammon match. The player chosen as the captain makes all the final decisions regarding moves but he can also consult his team mates. If the captain wins he becomes the box player. If he loses he becomes a team player.

Chouettes – Chouettes is the name of a backgammon variant. This adaptation of backgammon is played in a team format. The original backgammon rules apply, however players are divided up in to teams, a box player plays alone against a team.

Closed Board – A circumstance in a backgammon game, where a player has a man on the bar, while his opponent has created a prime, or 6 consecutive points in his home board.

Cooked Dice – An instance where a die or dice are rolled improperly and as a result are considered flawed. Cooked dice means the die either fell off the board or landed on a checker and is not entirely face up.

Crawford Rule – A rule which is used within backgammon match play. The rule is named after the backgammon player and author John R. Crawford. The Crawford rule states that if either player is within 1 point of winning the match, the game is played without a doubling cube.

Crew – A term used in Chouettes or team matches. It is used when referring to the captain’s team mates.

Dice Cups – An optional piece of equipment used when playing backgammon. Dice cups are used to ensure the randomness of rolls and they also reduce the chances of cooked dice.

Die – Plural of Dice.

Double – When a player is offered a double, and his opponent has used the doubling cube. If the player accepts the double the stakes of the match are doubled.

Double Hit – A situation during a backgammon game where two exposed Blots are hit with one roll of the dice.

Doubles – A single roll of the dice which shows the exact same numbers. For example, rolling a 3-3 or 5-5.

Doubling Cube – This is a die with the following numbered faces: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64. It is only used to double the stakes of the game.

Drop – When a player refuses to accept a double the term used is that the player has  ‘dropped’ the game. When a player drops a game he automatically forfeits therefore loses the game.

Gammon – A Gammon occurs when a player manages to bear off all his checkers (men), before his opponent has a chance to bear off any of their own checkers (men). In match play a Gammon is worth 2 points.

Hit – When a player reaches the blot using only one or two dice moves.

Holland Rule – This is an optional rule that is sparsely used, named after Tim Holland, this rule states that after a Crawford game, a player may not use the Doubling Cube until two roles are played by either of the players taking part in the game.

Home Board – The section of each player’s board, where each player is required to place all their men. Players may not begin to bear off men until all their men are in the home board section.

Jacoby Rule – This rule is used mainly during match-play, it’s named after the backgammon player and author Oswald Jacoby. It states that if a double has been offered, backgammons and gammons count for only 1 point.

Men – Another name for checkers, a single man equals a checker.

Pip – The term Pips has two separate meanings, they can either count for one spot on a die, or they can also mean a single triangle on the board.

Pip Count – Each player begins the game with a pip count of 167. This is maximum amount of pips a player is required to move all his checkers and bear then off the board.

Points – A ‘point’ is when a player positions two or more of his men within a single triangle on the board.

Prime – 6 Consecutive points occupied by two or more checkers (men).

Raccoons – If a player has accepted a beaver, he/she may re-double for a third time. This triple double is called a Raccoon.

Runners – Are the two farthest checkers in a player’s arsenal. They begin play on the opponents 1 point of the board. They are called runners because they have to travel the entire board before reaching the home board section which is there required destination.

Stake – Stakes are the amount of money wagered per game.

Straggler – slang term for the last checker heading towards the home board.

Touch Down – Is the first of two dice moves using only a single man or a checker.

Tournament – Tournaments tale part online and they involving a large amount of players. Each round the amount of players is halved, a winner is declared when there is only one player left who then is left to scoop the overall prize money.

Variants – Different types of backgammon games with varying rules and strategies.