Backgammon Terminology

Ace the number 1

Ace-Point the first point (position) on the board

Ace-Point Game game where 2 or more checkers are still on the ace point.

Anchor Two or more checkers that occupy a point

Back Game strategy of occupying the opponents home board (back) positions

Backgammoned To lose triple the value of the cube if checkers still in opponent's home board

Bar The center of the board where checkers go when they are hit

Bar-Point Position adjacent to the bar (7)

Bear In Bring checkers into the home quadrant

Bear Off Take checkers off the board

Beaver Redouble while maintaining posession of the cube (used in money games)

Blitz All out atttack (hitting loose) in an attemp to close out.

Blot Single checker vulnerable to getting hit

Bot Program that plays backgammon (short for robot)

Boxcars A roll of 6-6

Chouette Backgammon variant played by a group as a team.

Closed Board all Exits from the bar closed.

Cover a Blot Safty a blot by pairing it

Crawford Rule that prohibits the cube for 1 game to protect the leader from automatic doubles

Crunch forced to play checkers deep into home board

Cube doubling dice with the numbers 2-4-8-16-32-64

Dance Lose a turn from the bar

Dead Cube Worthless cube. Ex 3 pt match cube at 4

Direct Shot A shot 6 or less points away

Double Offer the cube

Drop Refuse a double

Dropper Online player that disconnects when losing

Duplication Ex. If you need a 6 to hit a blot but also like to jump a prime with it, your 6s are duplicated.

Equity A numeric value placed on the probably settlement value of a position

Fan To roll a number that does not allow re-entering from the bar

FIBS Online backgammon server (first-internet-backgammon-server)

Fish Weak player that plays for money

Flunk To roll a number that does not allow re-entering from the bar

Free Drop An option by the leader to drop a post crawford double without losing winning chances

Gammon Win double the stake if opponent fails to bear off any checkers

GNU Backgammon Free open source backgammon programming project

Golden Point The 5 pt, so called because it is a valuable point to own.

Greedy Bearoff Setting in some backgammon programs that automatically bears off

Home Board Quadrant of the board that players head towards before bearing off

Hyper-Backgammon Variant of backgammon played with 3 checkers each.

Indirect Shot A shot that requires both rolls of the dice (7 or higher) to hit

Jacoby Rule Money game rule that states cube must be turned before gammon or backgammon take effect

Jellyfish First commercial neural net backgammon program

Joker Perfect roll

Kibitz To chat or watch while a game is in progress

Ladder Ongoing rated competition

Loose Hit To hit an opponet inside your own home board with a single checker as opposed to making a point.

Lover's Leap Running a back checker from 24-13 pt with a 6-5 roll.

Make a Point Place 2 checkers on a point.

Mandatory Double An automatic post crawford double by the trailng player.

Match Predefined length games used for tournament style competitions

Money Play Single style games commonly used while gambling.

Monte Carlo Traditional location of the Backgammon world championships

Nackgammon Variant invented by expert player Nack Ballard. (4 checkers back instead of just 2)

Neural Net An advanced programming method that involves 'training'..perfectly well suited for backgammon

Pip Count The total number of spaces that all your remaining checkers must cover to bear off.

Post-Crawford All the games following the crawford game. (Doubling cube is alive)

Prime consecutive positions occupied by 2 or more checkers to form a block. (6 prime cannot be escaped)

Proposition Prearranged position played repeatedly

Runners The 2 checkers furthest away from your home board

Save Gammon To frantically run for home trying to bear off at least 1 checker.

Shesh Besh Turkish backgammon

Slot Place a single checker on a point with the intention of hopefully covering it on the next roll.

Snowie A commercial NN backgammon program (Jellyfish, Gnubg, Snowie, BGBlitz are the main contenders)

Take Accept a double

Tavla Turkish backgammon

TD-Gammon The pioneer of neural-net backgammon programs (1991), written by Gerald Tesauro

Timing Pacing of the game relevant to a backgame strategy of waiting for a shot without crunching your home board

Too Good (to Double) Playing on without doubling because the chance of gammon or backgammon is high.

Trictrac French backgammon