Backgammon Glossary

A point you hold with at least two checkers in your opponent’s home board. It gives a protected foothold and can help resist an attack. A made point elsewhere is not automatically an anchor.

A strategy based on holding two or more anchors in the opponent’s home board, usually while far behind in the race, to seek a late hit. It requires enough timing to retain the anchors and a useful board to contain a checker after hitting.

The game itself; also a triple-value win. For the latter, the loser has borne off no checkers and still has at least one checker on the bar or in the winner’s home board when the winner bears off the last checker.

The central divider where hit checkers wait. You must enter your checkers from the bar into the opponent’s home board before moving other checkers.

Your 7-point, next to the bar on the outer-board side. It is not the bar itself.

Remove a checker from the board after all your remaining checkers are in your home board. An oversized die can bear off only from your highest occupied point, when no checker is on a higher point.

An attacking plan that tries to keep opposing checkers on the bar while closing home-board points. It depends on builders and the opponent’s ability to establish an anchor.

A single checker on a point. An opposing checker landing there hits it and sends it to the bar.

A checker available to help make a useful point, often a spare checker behind the intended target. Its value depends on which points it can reach with future rolls.

A position in which the players can still hit or obstruct one another. Once no future hit is possible, the game is a pure race.

The rule that prohibits doubling for the next game when a player first reaches one point from winning the match. It applies for one game only; cube use resumes if the match continues afterwards.

The doubling cube, which records the current stake multiplier. A centred cube is available to either player when a double is legal; after a take, the taker owns it.

The right to offer the next redouble. It belongs to the player who accepted the previous double, and can have strategic value even before it is used.

An offer, made when permitted before rolling, to play for twice the current cube value. The opponent may take or pass. This is different from rolling doubles.

A situation in which either player wins the match by winning the current game, so gammons and backgammons have no extra match value.

A roll with the same number on both dice. The number is played four times, using as many moves as legally possible.

Decline a cube offer and concede the game at the cube value before the proposed double, not at the offered higher value.

The expected value of a position or decision under specified scoring and analysis assumptions. Check whether a displayed value is in normalised points or match-winning chances before comparing results.

A double-value win in which the loser has borne off no checkers, provided the additional conditions for a backgammon do not apply.

Land on an opposing blot and send that checker to the bar.

A plan that preserves contact, often through an anchor or an outer-board point, while waiting for a favourable escape or a shot at an opposing checker.

Your points 1 through 6, where all your remaining checkers must be before you can bear off. Your opponent’s home board is on the other side of the board.

A point occupied by at least two of your checkers. The opponent cannot land there while it remains made.

A sequence of rolls that turns a position the opponent could take into one they should pass. Such sequences are a key part of judging when to double.

Your 13-point. Five checkers start there in the standard setup; it is an important source of builders and a point of contact.

The sum of the distances your checkers must travel to bear off. It measures the race but does not fully capture contact, turn order or bear-off wastage.

One of the board’s 24 triangular playing spaces; also a scoring unit. In move notation, points are usually numbered from the moving player’s perspective.

A connected series of made points that obstructs opposing checkers behind it. A six-point prime cannot be jumped while intact, but does not necessarily stop the opponent moving other checkers.

The contest to bring checkers home and bear them off. In a pure race the sides have passed each other and hitting is no longer possible.

A subsequent cube offer made by the current cube owner, doubling the stake again and offering ownership back to the opponent if accepted.

Deliberately place a blot on a point you want to make, intending to cover it later. Slotting exchanges immediate exposure for future positional potential.

Several checkers concentrated on one point. Some stacks provide useful builders; excessive stacking can reduce flexibility when other points need developing.

Accept a cube offer, continue at the higher value and acquire ownership of the cube.

The ability to play future rolls while maintaining a desired structure or waiting for an opportunity. It depends on spare moves and checker distribution, not merely the pip count.

A position in which playing on, often for gammons, is worth more than immediately cashing by offering a cube the opponent should pass. The judgement depends on scoring rules and can change on the next roll.

How sharply a position’s value can change over the next rolls. High volatility makes cube timing especially important.

Definitions are a starting point. To understand why a builder, an anchor or a cube opportunity matters, study how those features interact in a complete position.

• Learn the rules
• See the strategic concepts in use
• Study cube strategy