BackGammon Glossary    

anchor  
a point held by a player in the opponent's inner board  
 
back game  
a game in which a player controls at least two points in the opponent's inner board and hopes to use these points to hit the opponent when he or she tries to bear off  
 
backgammon  
besides the game itself, a situation when one player bears off all his or her checkers before the opponent bears off any (as in a gammon) and the opponent still has at least one checker in the winner's inner board. This is scored as a triple win in the U.S. but is no different from a gammon in the rest of the world.  
 
bar point  
a player's 7-point  
 
bar  
the narrow vertical area separating the left and right halves of the board, where a checker is placed when it is hit  
 
bear in  
to move checkers into the inner board  
 
bear off  
to move a checker off the board  
 
bear-off  
the stage of the game in which a player has all his or her checkers in the inner board and is in the process of moving them off the board  
 
blot  
a single checker on a point, which is therefore vulnerable to being hit; an exposed man  
 
board (also called table)  
the surface on which a game of backgammon is played; or a quadrant of the board, such as a player's inner board or outer board  
 
 
box  
in a chouette, the player who plays alone against the others  
 
builder  
a single checker on a space, which can potentially be used to make a point somewhere  
 
bump  
another word for hit  
 
captain  
in a chouette, the player who resolves disagreements for the team and becomes the player in the box if the team wins  
 
checker  
a playing piece, also known as a man or counter  
 
 
Chouette  
a way of playing backgammon with more than two players, by having one player--the player "in the box"--play against a team of two or more other players. The team has a captain who resolves disagreements over where to move. If the team wins, the captain becomes the player in the box; if the team loses, the player in the box continues playing against the team and the team gets a new captain. If the team doubles, it does so as a unit; if the player in the box doubles, each team member may decide individually whether to accept or pass. close out (also called shut out)  
a position in which one player controls all six points in the opponent's inner board and the opponent has at least one checker on the bar; in such a situation, the opponent cannot move until at least one point becomes open  
 
come in  
see enter  
 
control a point  
have at least two checkers on a point, preventing the opponent from landing there  
 
 
control the cube  
have possession of the doubling cube; same as "own the cube"  
 
Crawford rule  
a rule for match play that prohibits doubling for one game when a player is within one point of winning the match.  
 
cube  
see doubling cube  
 
direct shot  
see shot  
 
doubles  
both dice showing the same number, played as though four of the number were thrown  
 
doubling cube  
a cube similar in size to a die but with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 on its sides. When a game begins, the cube is normally turned so the 64 is on top. Either player may choose to double the stakes of the game by turning the cube to 2 and offering it to the opponent. Opponent may pass, giving up the game but losing only one point, or accept, taking control of the cube but agreeing to continue with the value of the game now being 2 points. A player owning the cube may redouble by turning the cube to the next higher number and offering it to the opponent, who has similar choices.  
 
Enter  
come into the opponent's inner board from the bar  
 
gammon  
a situation when one player bears off all his or her checkers before the opponent bears off any. This is scored as a double game; i.e., the winner gets twice the value of the doubling cube.  
 
go out  
win a game that yields enough points to win a match  
 
golden point  
a player's twenty-point (the opponent's five-point)  
 
hit  
land on an opposing blot, which is then placed on the bar; also called "bump" or "knock off"  
 
 
holding game  
a defensive type of game in which a player controls points in the opponent's half of the board in hopes of keeping the opponent's checkers from safely reaching their inner board  
 
home board  
another name for inner board  
 
indirect shot  
see shot  
 
inner board (also called home board)  
the last quadrant of the board through which a player's checkers move before leaving the board, and where all checkers must be located before any are borne  
 
Jacoby rule  
Optionally, players may agree that gammons and backgammons do not count extra in un-doubled games.  
 
make a point  
bring two or more checkers to a space, thereby controlling that space and keeping the opponent off it  
 
match  
a series of games played to an agreed point total, where one point is the value of winning an un-doubled game  
 
match point  
the final point needed to win a match; a player is at match point when he or she needs one more point to win  
 
midpoint  
a player's 13-point (the opponent's 12-point)  
 
on the bar  
a phrase used to describe the location of checkers that have been hit but that have not yet entered  
 
own the cube  
have possession of the doubling cube by virtue of having been the last player to accept a double; at the start of a game, neither player owns the cube, and either may make the first double  
 
 
outer board  
the quadrant of the board adjacent to the inner board; the last quadrant through which a player moves his or her checkers before reaching the inner board  
 
pass  
decline a double, thereby conceding the game but limiting the loss to the number of points the game was worth before the double  
 
pip  
a number on a die, or the number of spaces a checker moves  
 
pip count  
a measure of the total number of spaces all of a player's checkers must move to be borne off  
 
point  
any of the board's 24 triangles; also, a unit of scoring equal to winning one game  
 
prime  
six closed points in a row; sometimes used to mean a lesser number of consecutive closed points, as in "a five-point prime"  
 
quadrant  
any of the four sections of the board; see also inner board, outer board  
 
rail  
another word for the bar  
 
reenter  
same as enter (move a checker back onto the board from the bar)  
 
running game  
the final stage of a backgammon game when the opponents' checkers have passed each other and have no further contact  
 
shot  
a chance to hit a blot; direct shots are chances to hit with a single, indirect or combined shots are 7 or more spaces away but can still be reached with some dice combination  
 
shut out  
another term for close out  
 
slot  
to leave a single checker on a point in hopes of adding another checker later to make that point  
 
split  
to separate two checkers that were together on a point  
 
table  
another word for board, used to mean either a quadrant of the board or the entire board  
 
take  
accept a double, thereby taking possession of the cube