Backgammon Dictionary

An anchor on the opponent's five-point, four-point, or sometimes three-point. (The opponent's bar-point is also sometimes called an advanced anchor, though purists insist that only points in the opponent's home board should be called "anchors.")  See: Holding Point.

A player of considerable experience and skill who has moved beyond intermediate level.

Having a lower pip count than your opponent; see count (2).

Having a lower pip count than your opponent.

An unexpectedly poor roll, especially one that fails to hit or fails to make a point.

Checkers in position to carry out an attack, in particular, checkers in the zone.

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.

A point (1) occupied by two or more of your checkers in the opponent's home board.

A recorded match with added analysis and commentary.  Example: The annotated match between Kit Woolsey and Jeremy Bagai.

Analysis and commentary about a backgammon game written after the game is played.

A very bad roll; the opposite of a joker.

The formation of a player's checkers as they work together to block and attack the opponent, then and come home safely.

A move from the opponent's outer board to the player's outer board.

A feature that contributes to the strength of a position, such as made points and flexibility.  Compare: Liability.

Blitz (1).

See: Zone of attack.

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.

Automatic doubles.

A dice roll which forces a player to leave a shot or break a valuable point (2).

[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.