“C” Backgammon Terms

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. See posts by Toni Wuersch and Chuck Bower.

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.) See post by Peter Anderson.

A position in which a player's checkers are piled high on a few points (1).

In a chouette, the leader of the team playing against the box. He rolls the dice and makes the final decisions for the team.

To offer a double which you believe will be refused so you can collect the current value of the cube; claim a game.

To throw a pair of dice.

An early plastic, similar to bakelite, that was popular in the 1930's and 40's in the creation of backgammon playing pieces.

Checkers which have been purposely spread out to maximize the chance of hitting an opposing checker if it tries to escape.

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).

Open division.

Play dangerously, especially in offering or accepting doubles, in an attempt to recover losses.

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.

The movement of the checkers according to numbers on the dice.

The art or skill of moving the checkers.   Compare: Cube Play (2).

British spelling of checker.

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 feature.

[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.  See: How to Run a Chouette.

Traditional name for the five-point.

To offer a double which you believe will be refused so that you can collect the current value of the cube; cash a game.

A move completed legally.

To move all the checkers off of a point (1).