Backgammon Questions and Answers

Short answers to the questions players ask most about backgammon, from the opening roll to the doubling cube. For the complete rulebook, see the backgammon rules.

What is the doubling cube in backgammon?

The doubling cube is a six-sided die marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 that raises the stakes. Before rolling, the player who owns the cube, or either player while it sits in the middle, may double. The opponent either takes and plays on at twice the stake, now owning the cube, or drops and loses the current stake.

Can you move backwards in backgammon?

No. Checkers only move forward, from higher-numbered points toward your own 1-point, and you can never move one backward by choice. The nearest thing to going back is being hit: the checker goes to the bar, re-enters in your opponent's home board, and has to travel the whole way round again.

What is the difference between a gammon and a backgammon?

Both are bigger wins. A gammon means the loser has not borne off a single checker, and it scores 2 times the cube. A backgammon means the loser has borne off none and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, and it scores 3 times the cube.

How do you bear off in backgammon?

Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, each die removes a checker from the matching point, so a 4 bears one off your 4-point. If that point is empty, move a checker down from a higher point; with none higher, bear off from your highest point. You may also move inside your home board instead.

Who goes first in backgammon?

Each player rolls one die, and the higher number moves first, playing both numbers showing as the opening move. If the dice match, both players roll again, so nobody can open with a double. That leaves 15 possible opening rolls, from 2-1 up to 6-5, and 3-1 is the best of them.

What happens when you roll doubles in backgammon?

You play the number four times instead of twice, so 5-5 gives four moves of 5, which is 20 pips in all. You can share the four moves among up to four checkers. If blocked points stop some of them, play as many as you legally can, and the rest of the roll is lost.

What is a blot in backgammon?

A blot is a single checker alone on a point. If an enemy checker lands there, the blot is hit and goes to the bar, and it has to re-enter before its owner can move anything else. Up to 6 pips ahead of an enemy checker, a blot can be hit by between 11 and 17 of the 36 rolls.

What is a prime in backgammon?

A prime is a row of consecutive made points, each holding two or more of your checkers. Six in a row, a full prime, cannot be passed at all, because every single die would land on a blocked point. The priming game traps enemy checkers behind such a wall while you bring the rest of your checkers home.

How does the Crawford rule work?

The Crawford rule applies only to match play. When either player first reaches one point short of winning the match, the next game is played without the doubling cube; from the game after that, the cube is back. Our board scores every game on its own, with no match total, so the rule never comes up here.

Is backgammon a game of skill or luck?

Both, and skill wins out over time. Dice can decide any single game, but the stronger player wins more over many games, and in 1982 an Oregon court ruled backgammon a game of skill after testimony from Paul Magriel, the 1978 world champion. Backgammon writer Bill Robertie argues that luck cannot be given as one percentage.

What is the pip count in backgammon?

Your pip count is the total number of points your checkers must still travel to bear off, and the lower count leads the race. Both players start on 167: 2 x 24 + 5 x 13 + 3 x 8 + 5 x 6. Players use it to choose between racing and holding, and to judge doubles in a race.

What happens if you cannot enter from the bar?

Your checker stays on the bar and your whole turn is lost, which players call dancing. You need a die that matches an open point in your opponent's home board. Against one closed point you enter with 35 of the 36 rolls; against five, with only 11. A closed board, all six points made, shuts you out completely.

Does it matter which side the home board is on?

No. Both home boards must sit on the same side of the bar, facing each other, but that side can be left or right. The layout only changes the direction you travel: anticlockwise when your home board is on your right, clockwise when it is on your left. Old books placed the home boards on the side nearest the light.