Backgammon Terms: A Short Glossary from A to Z
If you play or read about backgammon, you quickly meet a lot of special words. Here are the most important ones, briefly explained.
The terms from A to Z
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Anchor | Two of your checkers on a point in your opponent’s home board. A safe base. |
| Backgammon | A win in which the loser has borne off no checker and still has one on the bar or in the winner’s home board. Counts triple. |
| Bar | The middle strip. Hit checkers are placed there. |
| Bar point | The 7-point, right next to the bar. Important for blocking. |
| Bearing off | Taking checkers off the board from your home board – the aim of the game. |
| Blot | A single checker on a point – it can be hit. |
| Closed board | All six points of a home board are made – a hit opponent cannot enter. |
| Doubles | Two equal numbers – you move four times. |
| Doubling cube | A die marked 2 to 64 used to double the stakes – see the doubling cube explained. |
| Entering | Bringing a hit checker back into play in the opponent’s home board. |
| Gammon | A win in which the loser has not borne off any checker. Counts double. |
| Golden point | Your own 5-point – the most valuable point in the game. |
| Hit | Landing on an opposing blot with your checker. |
| Home board | The last six points of your route (1 to 6). |
| Midpoint | Your 13-point, where five checkers stand at the start. |
| Pip count | The total number of points all your checkers still need to travel. 167 at the start. |
| Point | One of the 24 triangles. “Making a point” means placing two checkers on it. |
| Prime | Several made points in a row. Six in a row cannot be passed. |
See the terms in action in a game – or read on with our strategy tips for beginners.
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