“B” Backgammon Terms

[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 back game player tries to hold both anchors as long as possible and force 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.

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.   See: the Rules of Backgammon.

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.

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.

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.

Runner; a player's rearmost checker.

A device through which dice are dropped to randomize a roll. The dice are deflected and jostled about as they fall through the box.

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. See post by Albert Steg.

[Because you must be "bananas" to try it. Attributed to Kent Goulding."]  To hit loose by breaking a point in your home board, thereby leaving two blots.

The amount of money you have available for betting, or the maximum amount you are willing to lose in a session.  See: Money Management.

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.

[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.

A player's seven-point, so named because it is physically adjacent to the bar.

A position in which both players have checkers trapped behind an opponent's prime.   See: Prime-vs-Prime.

To move a checker into your home board prior to bearing 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.

The last stage of the game during which checkers are borne off.

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).

To be within six points (1) of, and therefore reachable with a single number of the dice. For example, a checker on the 13-point bears on points 12 through 7.

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.

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. See post by Sander van Rijnswou.