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Home: Backgammon:
Glossary
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A
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- ABT
- American Backgammon Tour, an annual master-point
competition of participants in major U.S.
tournaments. Website: ABT.
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Accept a Double
- To agree to continue playing a game at twice the
previous
stakes after the opponent offers a
double. Compare: Refuse
a Double.
- Ace
- A rolled die
showing the number 1.
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Ace-Point
- Traditional name for the
one-point.
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Ace-Point Game
- A position in the late stages of a game in which a
player is
anchored on the opponent's
one-point
trying to hit a
shot as the opponent brings his checkers home and
bears them
off.
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Acey-Deucey
- [Also spelled "Acey-Deucy" or "Acey-Ducey".]
- The
roll of 1 and 2 with two
dice.
- A backgammon
variant
in which the roll of 1 and 2 gives the player extra
turns.
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Acting Captain
- In a
chouette, the
crew member
who plays for the
team
against the box
after the original
captain
has
declined box's double and is no longer in the game.
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Action Play
- A play designed to provoke an exchange of
hits,
typically used after the opponent has escaped his
runners.
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Action Position
- A position in which one player
doubles
based upon his immediate
blot-hitting
chances.
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Active Builder
- A
checker which is completely free to
make
another point.
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Advanced Anchor
-
- An
anchor on the opponent's
five-point,
four-point, or sometimes
three-point.
- An
made point on the opponent's five-point, four-point,
or
bar-point. (Many authors include the bar-point,
though it is technically not an
anchor,
because it functions much like an advanced anchor when
playing a
holding-game.) See: Holding
Point.
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Advanced Level
- A player of considerable experience and skill who has
moved beyond
intermediate level.
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Ahead in the Count
- Having a lower
pip count
than your opponent; see
count (2).
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Ahead in the Race
- Having a lower
pip count
than your opponent.
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Air Ball
- An unexpectedly poor
roll.
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Analog Clock
- A traditional
chess
clock with hands that show the time remaining for each
player. It has a flag that falls to indicate when a
player's time has expired. Analog clocks generally do not
have a
time delay feature, making them less suitable than
digital clocks for use in backgammon.
- Anchor:
- A
point (1)
occupied by two or more of your
checkers
in the opponent's
home
board.
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Annotated Match
- A recorded
match with added analysis and commentary.
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Annotation
- Analysis and commentary about a backgammon game written
after the game is played.
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Anti-Joker
- A very bad
roll; the opposite of a
joker.
- Army
- The formation of a player's
checkers
as they work together to
block
and attack
the opponent, then and come
home
safely.
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Around the Corner
- A move
from the opponent's
outer
board to the player's
outer
board.
- Asset
- A feature that contributes to the strength of a
position,
such as
made points and
flexibility. Compare: Liability.
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Attacking Game
-
Blitz (1).
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Automatic Doubles
- An optional rule in
money
play: If both players
throw the
same number on the
first
roll of a game, the
stakes are
doubled. The
doubling cube is turned to 2 and stays
in the
middle. Players usually agree to limit the number of
automatic doubles to one per game.
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Automatics
-
Automatic doubles.
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Awkward Number
- A dice roll
which forces a player to leave a
shot or
break
a valuable
point (2).
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B
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Back Game
- [Also spelled "backgame".] A strategy employed
by a player who is substantially behind in the
race but
has two or more
anchors
in the opponent's
home
board. The player holds both anchors as long as
possible, forcing his opponent to
bear in
or bear off
awkwardly. The idea is to
hit a late
shot and
then
contain the hit checker behind a
prime. Compare: Holding
Game.
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Backgammon
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- A game played with
dice
and
checkers on a
board consisting of twenty-four
points (1),
in which each player tries to move his checkers
home
and
bear them off while preventing the opponent from
doing the same thing.
- A completed game of
backgammon (1) in which the losing
player has not
borne
off any
checkers
and still has one or more checkers on the
bar or
in the winner's
home
board. A backgammon is also called a
triple game because the winner receives three times
the value of the
doubling cube. Compare: Single
Game and
Gammon.
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Backgammon Board
-
Backgammon (1) is played on a board
consisting of twenty-four narrow triangles called
points (1).
The triangles alternate in color and are grouped into four
quadrants
of six triangles each. The quadrants are referred to as a
player's
home board and
outer
board and the opponent's home board and outer board. The
home and outer boards are separated from each other by a
ridge down the center of the board called the
bar.
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Backgammon Server
- A computer on the Internet which hosts games of
backgammon (1). Competitors play in real
time with opponents from around the world. The server
rolls the
dice,
communicates the
plays to
each player, keeps score, and maintains
ratings
for all players. Some servers even let you play for money.
You typically interact with a server using
client software downloaded to your computer.
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Back Man
-
Runner;
a player's rearmost
checker.
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Baffle Box
- A device through which
dice are
dropped to randomize a
roll. The
dice are deflected and jostled about as they fall through
the box.
-
Bakelite
- An early type of plastic, used in the 1920's and 1930's
for the creation of backgammon
playing
pieces. Many people prefer the look and feel of bakelite
to newer materials.
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Banana Split
- [Because you must be "bananas" to try it.] To
hit loose
by
breaking a point in your
home
board, thereby leaving two
blots.
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Bankroll
- The amount of money you have available for betting, or
the maximum amount you are willing to lose in a session. See: Money
Management.
- Bar
- The raised ridge down the center of a
backgammon board dividing the
home
board from the
outer
board. Checkers are placed on the bar after they have
been hit.
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Barabino
- [Named after backgammon expert Rick Barabino.] A
roll of 5-4
from the bar
used to
make an
anchor on the opponent's
five-point.
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Bar-Point
- A player's seven-point, so named because it is
physically adjacent to the
bar.
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Battle of Primes
- A position in which both players have
checkers
trapped behind an opponent's
prime. See: Prime-vs-Prime.
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Bear In
- To move a
checker
into your
home board prior to
bearing off.
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Bear Off
- To remove a
checker
from the board according to a
roll of the
dice after
all of your checkers have been brought into your
home
board.
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Bearoff
- The last stage of the game during which
checkers
are borne
off.
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Bearoff Database
- A computer-generated table associating each possible
bearoff
position with a value that represents the quality of that
position. The associated value is either the
equity of
the position (in a
two-sided database) or a distribution of the expected
number of rolls to bear off (in a
one-sided database).
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Bear On
- To be within six
points (1)
of. For example, a
checker
on your 13-point bears on points 7 through 12.
- Beaver
- An immediate redouble by a player who just
accepted a double. A player who beavers turns the
cube
up one level and retains
possession of the cube. See: Beavers.
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Beavers
- A rule often used in
money
play (but never in
match
play) which says: A player who
accepts a double may immediately redouble (beaver)
without giving up
possession of the cube. The opponent (the player who
originally doubled) may
refuse the beaver, in which case he resigns the game and
loses the current (doubled) stakes. Otherwise, he must
accept the beaver and continue the game at quadruple the
stakes prior to the double.
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Behind in the Count
- Having a higher
pip count
than your opponent; see
count (2).
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Behind in the Race
- Having a higher
pip count
than your opponent.
- Bertha
- To mistakenly play the roll of 6-5 from the opponent's
one-point
to your
mid-point without seeing that the opponent has made his
bar-point
and blocks your way.
- BIBA
- British Isles Backgammon Association. Website: BIBA.
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Big Play
- A bold
or aggressive play when a
safer
but less constructive play is available.
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Binache
-
Beaver.
- Blitz
-
- An all-out attack on enemy
blots
in your
home
board aimed at
closing out your opponent.
- A quick
elimination
tournament consisting of short
matches.
- Block
- A
point (1)
occupied by two or more
checkers
held for the purpose of hindering the opponent's progress.
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Blockade
- A series of
blocks
arranged to prevent escape of the opponent's
runners.
The ideal blockade is a
prime.
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Blocking Backgammon
- A backgammon
variant
in which one
checker by itself controls a
point (1).
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Blocking Game
- A game
plan where the primary strategy is to build a strong
blockade.
- Blot
- A single
checker sitting alone on a
point (1)
where it is vulnerable to being
hit.
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Blot-Hitting Contest
- An exchange of
loose hits
in which both players try to gain a
key point.
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Blue game
- A kind of collusion in a chouette. Two or more players
silently agree to share their winnigs, thus if either of
them is in the box and the other is captain, the captain
deliberately makes bad moves or wrong doubling decisions.
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Blunder
- A large checker play or cube error, especially one made
out of recklessness or inattention. Compare: Whopper.
- Board
-
- A
backgammon board.
- One of the four
quadrants that make up the playing area: your
home
board, your
outer board, the opponent's home board, and the
opponent's outer board.
- A player's
home
board. For example: a
strong board is a home board with several
made points; an
n-point board is a home board with n
points made; to
make your board means to
close all the points in your home board.
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Board Layout
- See: Starting
Position.
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Board Setup
- See: Starting
Position.
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Bold Play
- A play that leaves one or more
blots that
the opponent can easily
hit. Compare: Safe
Play.
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Bold-Safe Criteria
- See: Magriel's
Safe-Bold Criteria.
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Book a Checker
-
Cover a blot.
- Bot
- [Contraction of "robot."]
- A computer program on a
backgammon server that plays and competes just as if
it were a human player.
- Any computer program that can play
backgammon (1) and analyze
positions (such as
Jellyfish,
Snowie,
or
GNU Backgammon).
- Box
- [Short for "man in the box," a person in a difficult
or trying position.] The player in a
chouette
who plays alone against all the others.
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Boxcars
- A roll
of 6-6 (double 6's).
- Boxes
- A roll
of 6-6 (double 6's).
- Boys (The Boys)
- A roll
of 6-6 (double 6's).
- Break
- To take apart, as in
break
a point,
break
a prime, or
break one's board.
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Break a Point
- To remove a
checker
from a
point (1)
that contains only two checkers, leaving the point
open.
(The opposite of
make a
point.)
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Break a Prime
- To
open one or more
points (2)
in a prime.
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Break Contact
- To move past the last of the opponent's
checkers,
so that no further
hitting or
blocking
is possible. The game becomes a
pure race.
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Break One's Board
- To
open one or more
points (2)
in your
home board after having
made
your board.
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Broken Prime
- An incomplete
prime with
a gap in it.
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Bronstein Clock
- A
chess clock with a feature that allows a
time
delay with each move. See also: Fischer
Clock.
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Builder
- A
checker brought into your
outer
board where it
bears
directly onto one or more
key points
that you want to
make.
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Build One's Board
- To
make points in your
home
board.
- Bump
-
Hit a
checker.
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Bump and Pass
-
Pick and pass.
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Bump and Run
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Pick and pass.
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Bury a Checker
- To play a
checker
deep within
your home
board where it has no value.
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Busted Back Game
- A
backgame attempt that fell apart when the backgame
player was forced to move checkers
deep into
his home
board where they could no longer
contain a
hit checker.
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Button up
- To safety a
blot by bringing it together with another
checker.
- Bye
- [As in "go by".] The position of a player in a
tournament who advances to the next
round
without playing a match. Byes are often awarded in the first
round of an
elimination tournament to make the number of advancing
players a power of 2.
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C
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Calcutta Auction
- A lottery of entrants in a backgammon
tournament. At the start of the tournament, players are
auctioned off and the proceeds go into a pool to be
distributed later to the buyers of the successful players.
Sometimes players are grouped into fields, with each field
sold as a package. The rules usually allow a player to buy
back a portion of himself if he wants to increase his stake
in the tournament.
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California Rule
- An optional rule that says the winner of the
opening
roll has the option of rerolling both dice if he also
turns the
cube
to 2. (The cube remains in the
center.)
-
Candlesticks
- A position in which a player's
checkers
are piled high on a few
points (1).
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Captain
- In a
chouette, the leader of the
team
playing against the
box. He
rolls the dice and makes the final decisions for the team.
-
Cash a Game
- To offer a
double
which you believe will be
refused so you can collect the current value of the
cube;
claim a
game.
- Cast
- To throw
a pair of dice.
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Catalin
- An early plastic, similar to
bakelite,
that was popular in the 1930's and 40's in the creation of
backgammon
playing pieces.
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Catchers
-
Checkers
which have been purposely spread out to maximize the chance
of hitting
an opposing checker if it tries to escape.
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Centered Cube
- The position of the
doubling cube before either player has offered a
double. A
centered doubling cube is placed halfway between the players
at the start of each game with the number 64 facing up
(representing a value of 1).
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Championship Division
-
Open division.
- Chase
- Play dangerously, especially in
offering
or
accepting doubles, in an attempt to recover losses.
-
Checker
- One of the fifteen markers, all of one color, that a
player moves around the
board according to
rolls of
the dice.
Also known as
men,
pieces,
stones, or
counters.
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Checker Play
-
- The movement of the
checkers
according to numbers on the
dice.
- The art or skill of moving the checkers. Compare: Cube
Play (2).
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Chequer
- British spelling of
checker.
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Chess Clock
- Two adjacent connected clocks with buttons that stop one
clock while starting the other so that the two component
clocks never run simultaneously. The purpose is to keep
track of the total time each player takes and ensure that
neither player unduly delays the game. Clocks may be
analog
or
digital. Digital clocks work best in backgammon because
they have a
time
delay
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Chouette
- [Pronounced "shoo-ETT". From the French word
for "barn owl," a bird that is often attacked by all
other birds.] A social form of backgammon for
three or more players. One player, the
box,
plays on a single
board against all the others who form a
team
led by a
captain.
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Cinque-Point
- Traditional name for the
five-point.
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Claim a Game
- To offer a
double
which you believe will be
refused so that you can collect the current value of the
cube;
cash a
game.
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Clean Play
- A move
completed legally.
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Clear a Point
- To move
all the
checkers off of a
point (1).
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Clear from the Rear
- A good general strategy to use when
bearing in
or bearing
off against opposition. You
clear
your highest
point (1) first and avoid creating
gaps.
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Client Software
- Software that runs on a user's computer and communicates
with a
backgammon server to allow the user to play
backgammon (1) with others on the
Internet. The client software displays the
board and interacts with the user as he
rolls the
dice and
moves the
checkers.
- Clock
-
Chess clock.
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Clockwise
- The direction your
checkers
move around the board when they are
set up to
bear off
to the left. When your checkers move clockwise, your
opponent's checkers move
counterclockwise.
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Close a Point
-
Make a point; place two or more of your
checkers
on a
point (1),
and thereby prevent your opponent from landing there.
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Closed Board
- A player's
home
board when all six
points (1)
are blocked.
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Closed Point
- A
point (1)
containing two or more
checkers;
a block or
an anchor.
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Close Out
- To
make all six of your
home
board points while the opponent has one or more
checkers
on the bar.
The opponent is then prevented from
entering
his checker or making any other move until one of the
closed
home-board points is
opened.
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Cluster Count
- A collection
pip
counting
this article.
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Cocked Dice
-
Thrown
dice
which do not both land flat on the surface of the
half of the
board to the player s right. The
roll
is disqualified and both dice must be rethrown.
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Cock Shott
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Entering
from the bar
with a roll
of 6-2 and
hitting a
blot on the eight-point when the only
open
point is the
two-point.
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Coffeehouse
-
Misleading talk to confuse opponent. For example, in a
chouette, when a team player advises
the captain not to double knowing full
well that the captain will double, he
tempts the box to unwisely accept (ethically borderline, at
best)
Combinationn
- The two numbers on a pair of rolled
dice
taken together; see
combinations of the dice.
- The play of a single
checker
that uses both numbers of a
roll,
such as a
combination shot.
Combination Shot
An opportunity to
hit an
opposing blot
that requires using the numbers on both
dice taken
together; an
indirect shot. Compare: Direct
Shot.
Combinations of
the Dice
The number of possible rolls out of 36 that accomplish a
specific objective.
Comeback Shot
An opportunity to
hit an
opponent's blot
immediately after being hit yourself; in particular, an
opportunity to hit from the
bar.
Come In
Enter.
Comfort Station
Mid-point.
Committed Position
A position from which there is only one reasonable
game plan
noncommitted position.
Communicate
To keep
checkers within six
pips (2)
of one another for mutual support; see
connectivity.
Compact Position
A position with several
made
points close to one another and few
gaps.
Confetti
What you sometimes get paid in if you are not careful
with whom you play.
Confidence Interval
A range of values that contain, with a certain
probability, a
rollout s
convergence value
Connected
Positionn
A position in which all fifteen of a player's
checkers
are located within a short distance of each other. A
position which is well-connected will tend to stay
well-connected.
Connectivity
The degree to which all of a player's
checkers
work together as a unified army without large
gaps between
them.
Connected checkers defend each other and are easily made
into
points (2).
Consolation Division
Consolation flight.
Consolation Flight
A event for players eliminated early in the
main
flight of an
elimination
tournament; sometimes called a
sympathy flight.
Consolidate
To reduce the number of
blots a
player has, frequently as a precursor to offering a
double.
Consultation
Advice offered by the
crew to the
captain
chouette.
Contact Positionn
A game where the opposing forces have not moved past
each other and where it is still possible for one player to
hit or
block the
other. Compare: Pure
Race.
Contain a Checker
To prevent an opposing
checker
from escaping to its own side of the board by
blocking
it or hitting
it and sending it back.
Control a Point
A player controls a
point (1)
if he has two or more
checkers
on that point. Only the player who controls a point may move
additional checkers to that point.
Control the Cube
Own
the cube.
Convergence Value (of a
Rollout)
The value approached by a
rollout
as more and more
trials are
performed. It is the result you would obtain if you could do
a rollout an infinite number of times.
Correspondence Games
Games played by e-mail.
Count
-
Pip count.
- The relative standing of the players' pip counts.
The player with the lower pip count is said to be
ahead in the count.
Counter
Checker.
Counterclockwise
The direction your
checkers
move around the board when they are
set up to
bear off
to the right. When your checkers move counterclockwise, your
opponent's checkers move
clockwise.
Counterplay
Possibilities for retaliation, switching from a
defensive posture to an offensive posture.
Count the Position
To tabulate the players'
pip counts
to find out who is
ahead in the race
Coup Classique
A win from the seemingly unwinnable position in
which your opponent has
borne off twelve checkers and has just three
checkers remaining on his
two-point. You bravely maintain
contact with a single checker on his
one-point and deploy your other fourteen
checkers where they can
contain his checkers if you are able to
hit
one or, preferably, two of them. Winning a coup
classique is especially satisfying for you and
maddening for your opponent.
Cover a Blott
To add a second
checker
to a blot,
thereby
making the point
CPW
Cubeless probability of winning.
Cramped
Having little or no
mobility.
Crawford Game
The first game in a
match
after either player comes to within one
point (4)
of winning. The rules of
match
play say that the
doubling cube may not be used during the Crawford game.
See: Crawford
Rule.
Crawford Rule
[Named for John R. Crawford.] A standard rule of
match
play. After either player comes within one
point (4)
of winning the match, the following game is played without a
doubling cube. This one game without doubling is called
the
Crawford Game. After the Crawford game, the doubling
cube is back in play again.
Crew
chouette, members of the
teamm who
play with the
captain
against the box.
Crossover
The movement of a
checker
from one
quadrant of the board to an adjacent quadrant.
Crossover Count
The total number of
crossovers
needed to get all your
checkers
home
and then
borne off.
Crunch
The forced evacuation of desirable
points (2)
due to the lack of alternate plays; in particular, a
position in which you are forced to
bury
checkers deep within your
home
board.
Crunched Position
A position which has collapsed, with several
checkers
being forced to the low
points (1)
in the player's
home
board while other checkers remain in the opponent's
territory.
Crunching Position
A
priming game in which one side is about to collapse, but
has not done so yet.
Cube
Doubling cube.
Cube Action
All of the
cube
decisions associated with a given position, namely: (a)
whether the player
on roll
should double,
and (b) whether his opponent should
accept the double,
refuse the double, or possibly
beaver.
Cube Decision
The choice of whether or not to offer a
double,
or the choice of whether to
accept, or
refuse
Cubeful Equity
In
money play with the
doubling cube, the absolute value of a position
to one of the players compared to the
initial stake being played for. See: Equity.
Cubeful equity considers the current value of the
cube,
cube ownership, and the potential for future
doubles. In
match play, cubeful equity corresponds to the
probability of winning the match from the current
position. Compare: Cubeless
Equity.
Cubeful Rollout
A
rollout performed with the
doubling cube in play. All appropriate
cube
decisions are made as the position is played out. That
means some
trials will end in a
dropped
double
and others will end with the cube at 2, or 4, or even
higher. Cubeful rollouts more accurately simulate actual
games than
cubeless rollouts, but they have greater variance, so
they do not
converge as quickly. And cubeful rollouts may be more
susceptible to
systematic error because of cube misplays.
Cube Handling
The art or skill of making
cube
decisions.
Cube in the Middle
See: Centered
Cube.
Cubeless Equity
The value of a position if the game is played without a
doubling cube. This is a value between -3 and +3 and is
equal to P(W) + P(Wg) + P(Wbg) - P(L) - P(Lg) - P(Lbg),
where P(W) is the probability of winning the game, P(Wg) is
the probability of winning a gammon (or backgammon), P(Wbg)
is the probability of winning a backgammon, P(L) is the
probability of losing the game, P(Lg) is the probability of
losing a gammon (or backgammon), P(Lbg) is the probability
of losing a backgammon. Compare: Cubeful
Equity.
Cubeless
Probability of Winning
The chance of winning the game if no
doubling cube is used; also called
game winning chances.
Cubeless Rollout
A
rollout performed without using a
doubling cube. Each
trial is
played to the end of the game and scored plus or minus 1, 2,
or 3
points (4)
depending on whether gamed ended in a
single
game,
gammon, or
backgammon (2). Because cubeless rollouts
do not include
cube play,
they do not perfectly simulate a game, but cubeless rollouts
have less variance and less
systematic error than
cubeful rollouts.
Cube Ownership
Which player has the right to make the next
double.
At the start of the game, the cube is in the
middle
and either player may double. After one player accepts
another's double, he
owns
the cube, and only that player may make the next double.
Cube Play
- The act of offering a
double,
or the act of
accepting or
refusing the opponent's double.
- The art or skill of making
cube decisions. Compare: Checker
Play (2).
Cube Proxy
A player in a
chouette
who temporarily handles the
cube
for another while that player is away from the game.
Cube Reference
Position
A position for which the correct
cube
action is known which serves as a standard by which
other similar positions may be judged.
Cup
Dice
cup.
Current Stake
The
initial stake multiplied by the value of the
doubling cube.
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