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Backgammon glossary: 32 terms with examples
Understand 32 backgammon terms, from blots and anchors to gammons and the cube, with short examples and links to worked lessons.
Use this glossary when a lesson mentions an unfamiliar backgammon term. Definitions are grouped by what you are doing at the board. Each group links to a worked lesson; the short examples show how the terms fit together.
Board and movement
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Point | One of the board's 24 triangles. |
| Home board | Your six points nearest bearing off. |
| Outer board | Your points 7 through 12. |
| Bar | Where hit checkers await re-entry. |
| Checker | A playing piece; each player has 15. |
| Open point | A landing point with fewer than two opposing checkers. |
| Blot | A lone checker, vulnerable to a hit. |
| Hit | Send an opposing blot to the bar. |
| Enter | Bring a bar checker back onto the board. |
| Bear off | Remove a checker under the bear-off rules. |
Read it in a position: your checker on the bar enters onto your 23-point using a 2. If the opponent has one checker there, you hit it; if they have two, that entry is blocked. Your 23-point is their 2-point, so always identify whose numbering a lesson uses.
Start with the setup and point numbers, then try the bar-entry example. For removing checkers, use the bearing-off guide.
Dice, distance and notation
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Doubles | Matching dice: four moves of that number. |
| Pip | A unit of movement or dice spot. |
| Pip count | Total remaining checker distance to bear off. |
| Race | A contest of bringing checkers home and off. |
| Pure race | A race with no remaining checker contact. |
| Contact | Checkers can still interact by blocking or hitting. |
Read a move: 13/8 means moving a checker from your 13-point to your 8-point. The difference is five, so that move uses a 5. A notation such as 8/5 6/5 describes two moves that finish on the same point. An asterisk marks a hit; “off” means the checker leaves the board.
A double on the dice and a double with the cube are different actions. For dice requirements, read doubles and legal moves. For distance calculations, try the three positions in pip counting.
Building a position
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Made point | A point occupied by at least two friendly checkers. |
| Anchor | A made point in the opponent's home board. |
| Builder | A checker positioned to help make a point. |
| Prime | Consecutive made points forming a blockade. |
| Blitz | An attacking plan targeting enemy home-board blots. |
| Holding game | A plan maintaining an anchor for future contact. |
| Backgame | A plan using multiple deep anchors. |
| Slot | Place a blot on a point to cover later. |
Read it in a plan: with two of your checkers on the opponent's 5-point, you have an anchor. It gives you somewhere protected to wait. Moving one checker away breaks that anchor and leaves a blot. Whether to do so depends on the position; knowing the word does not choose the move for you.
Learn how points and builders work in the opening examples, then compare the planning habits in common beginner mistakes.
Scoring and the cube
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Single | A win worth the current cube value. |
| Gammon | A win before the loser bears any checker off; pays twice the cube. |
| Backgammon | A gammon with a loser still on the bar or in the winner's home board; pays three times the cube. |
| Doubling cube | Records the game's current scoring multiplier. |
| Take | Accept a proposed double. |
| Pass | Decline a double and concede at the previous value. |
| Cube ownership | The right to offer the next ordinary redouble. |
| Crawford game | First game after a player reaches one-away; no doubling. |
Read a score: winning a gammon with the cube at 2 earns four points. Passing a proposed increase from 2 to 4 gives the opponent two points. In a match, count those points towards the agreed target; there is no extra prize for exceeding the target.
Use the scoring examples and the cube guide together. The Crawford match timeline shows exactly when its one-game restriction starts and ends.
Three words that cause confusion
Point can mean a board triangle or a unit of score. “Make the 5-point” describes checkers; “win five points” describes a result.
Backgammon names both the game and its triple-value result. Winning a game is not automatically winning a backgammon.
Double can describe matching dice or a cube offer. “I rolled double 4s” gives four checker moves of four. “I offered a double” asks the opponent to continue at twice the current cube value.
Keep the complete rules guide nearby for the full turn sequence. This glossary is a reading aid; the linked lessons explain the conditions and exceptions.