Backgammon Glossary

Glossary

The most complete glossary of backgammon terms

Term of the Day

Magriel's Safe-Bold Criteria

[Listed by Paul Magriel in his book Backgammon.]  Six criteria for determining whether a situation requires a safe play or a bold play. They are: (a) opponent's home board strength; (b) presence of an anchor in opponent's home board; (c) your home board strength; (d) blots in opponent's home board; (e) number of checkers you have back; and (f) number of checkers opponent has back. Criteria (a) and (f) call for making a safe play; the others point towards making a bold play.

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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.

late stage backgammon position

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