Appendix A - Glossary
NOTE: This glossary is not exhaustive. Should you encounter any backgammon terms or jargon not defined herein, please consult any of the other perfectly adequate ones online, such as the glossary on Backgammon Galore.
- Ace - [noun] The traditional name for a one (1) rolled on the dice.
- Ace-point - [noun] The traditional name for the 1-point.
- Anchor - 1. [noun] A point held by you in your opponent's inner board. 2. [verb] The act of making such a point.
- Advanced anchor - [noun] An anchor on your opponent's 4-point or 5-point (your 21-point or 20-point, respectively).
- Attacking force - [noun] The checkers available for immediate use in an attacking game plan. More precisely, your attacking force comprises all of the men located in the zone.
- Attacking game - [noun] A strategy focused around trying to hit and close out your opponent's back checkers in your home board.
- Back men - [noun] The two checkers that are located in the opponent's home board at the start of the game.
- Backgammon - 1. [noun] A two-player tables game wherein 15 checkers move in contrary motion across a board with 24 spaces. 2. [noun] A win condition in backgammon wherein one player bears off all of their checkers while their opponent still has checkers in the winning player's home board or on the bar; the winning player is awarded 3 points (multiplied by the value of the doubling cube) instead of only one.
- Bar - [noun] The raised divider of the board that separates the players' inner and outer boards, and onto which checkers are placed after being hit.
- Bar point - [noun] Another name for the 7-point.
- Bear off - 1. [verb] To remove a checker from the board during the ending phase of the game. 2. [noun] The final phase of backgammon during which the players are trying to take all of their checkers off of the board.
- Blot - 1. [noun] A single checker left sitting alone on a point. 2. [verb] The act of leaving a blot.
- Blot cost - [noun] The pipcount of a blot, representing the number of pips the player stands to lose in the race should the blot be hit.
- Builder - [noun] A blot intended to be used to help make a point.
- Cheap blot - [noun] A blot with a low pip count (roughly <= 11 pips). It can also be understood as a blot left by a player on the opponent's side of the board.
- Close out - [verb] To hit an opponent's blot while all of the points in your inner board are closed, making it impossible for them to re-enter.
- Cube decision - [noun] The act of deciding whether to use the doubling cube to increase the stakes of the game.
- Deuce - [noun] The traditional name for a two (2) rolled on the dice.
- Deuce-point - [noun] The traditional name for the 2-point.
- Direct shot - [noun] A blot left within 6 pips of one the opponent's checkers, such that a number from a single die can be used to hit it.
- DMP - [noun] Double match point; a game in match play where both players are one point away from winning the match.
- Double - [verb] To use the doubling cube to increase the value of the current game by two.
- Double direct shot - 1. [noun] A blot left within 6 pips of two of the opponent's checkers on different points. 2. [noun] Two blots left within 6 pips of one of the opponent's checkers.
- Double out - [verb] To end a game by doubling your opponent when you know they'll drop.
- Doubling cube - [noun] A large 6-sided cube, usually labeled with 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64, that can be used to double the point value of the current game.
- Drop - [verb] To decline the opponent's offer to double the stakes of the game. If one player drops, the other player wins a single game multiplied by the value of the doubling cube (specifically, the cube's value before the dropped offer).
- Equalize - [verb] The improvement of a player's equity such that they're now on an even standing with their opponent.
- Equity - [noun] The value of a given position for a player. In money play, it refers to the position's value relative to the initial stakes of the game (i.e. how many points the player is projected to win for that game based on the position). In match play, it refers to the probability that the player will win the match based on the position.
- Expensive blot - [noun] A blot with a high pip count (12+ pips). It can also be understood as a blot left by a player on their side of the board.
- Gammon - [noun] A win condition in backgammon wherein one player bears off all of their checkers before their opponent bears off any of theirs; the winning player is awarded 2 points (multiplied by the value of the doubling cube) instead of only one.
- Golden Point - [noun] The 5-point in your opponent's home board (aka your 20-point).
- Hit - [verb] To place one of your checkers on top of an opponent's blot, knocking it off of the point and sending it to the bar.
- Hit and split - [verb] The act of hitting your opponent and splitting your back checkers in the same roll.
- Home board - [noun] Another name for the inner board of a player.
- Inactive builder - [noun] The checkers on a stripped point that are within direct shot range of the opponent's men. They're called "inactive" because to break the point (to make an inner board point, for instance) would leave behind a direct shot, and one at an expensive blot in most cases, no less.
- Inner board - [noun] The quadrant of the board consisting of points 1 through 6 for a given player.
- Major split - [noun] To move one of the back men either three or four pips forward (to the 21-point or 20-point, respectively).
- Match play - [noun] A style of backgammon where the two players play a series of games until a certain score threshold is met.
- Midpoint - [noun] Another name for the 13-point.
- Minor split - [noun] To move one of the back men either one or two pips forward (to the 23-point or 22-point, respectively).
- Money play - [noun] A style of backgammon where the two players play individual games with no relation to each other, often wagering a certain amount of money per point.
- Outer board - [noun] The quadrant of the board consisting of points 7 through 12 for a given player.
- Pass - [verb] A synonym for drop.
- Passive play - [noun] A style of play where the player avoids taking risks as much as possible—for instance, by never leaving a blot if there's another move that doesn't leave one.
- Pipcount - [noun] The sum total of the number of spaces all of a player's checkers need to move to bear them all off of the board.
- Point - 1. [noun] One of the 24 triangular spaces on the game board. 2. [noun] Two or more checkers stacked on the same space.
- Point on - [verb] To create a new point on the same space where an opponent's blot was sitting.
- Prime - 1. [noun] A structure consisting of multiple closed points in a row, used to block the opponent's back men. 2. [verb] The act of making such a structure.
- Race - 1. [noun] The relative standing of the two players in terms of bringing all of their checkers off of the board as measured by their pipcounts. 2. [verb] To focus on moving your checkers the greatest distance possible as safely as possible, as opposed to attacking, building a prime, etc.
- Redouble - [verb] To offer to double the stakes of the current game again after the value has already been doubled at least once.
- Rollout - [noun] A type of analysis wherein a particular board position is repeatedly set up and played for a certain number of turns; they're typically used to measure the relative strength of different plays for a given dice roll, cube decisions, etc.
- Silver Point - [noun] The 4-point in your opponent's board (aka your 21-point).
- Single game - [noun] A win condition in backgammon wherein one player bears off all of their checkers before their opponent, but their opponent has removed at least one of their own checkers. The winning player is awarded 1 point (multiplied by the value of the doubling cube).
- Slot - [verb] To place a blot on a point with the intention of making that point on the next roll.
- Slot and split - [verb] The (tactically unsound) act of slotting a point and splitting your back checkers in the same roll.
- Split - [verb] To move the back men onto two separate points.
- Stripped point - [noun] A point with no spare checkers on it—that is, a point made with only two checkers.
- Take - [verb] To accept the opponent's offer to double the stakes of the game. The accepting player has sole ownership of the doubling cube after they take until the end of the game (unless they decide to redouble).
- The Zone - [noun] Broadly speaking, the two quadrants of the board belonging to a given player; in other words, the player's inner and outer boards. Note, however, that if the player's 5-point is closed, their 11-point is no longer considered part of the Zone, and likewise for the 4-point and 10-point, etc. Thus, more properly, the Zone is the section of the board that starts at a player's 1-point and extends 6 spaces (inclusive) beyond their highest open inner board point.