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Backgammon Glossary for Kids and Beginners

A

Ace: A one on a die

Acey-Deucey: A variation on backgammon in which all of the pieces start the game off of the board and must be brought onto the board before moving forward

Action Play: A strategic move that's intended to make the player's opponent take a hit

Advanced Anchor: When a player has placed one or more of their checkers on the opponent's five point or four point

Anchor: Two or more of your checkers placed on a point on your opponent's home board

Annotated Match: A recorded game that includes comments and an analysis of moves made

Anti-Joker: A roll that makes your position worse

Attack: To hit your opponent's blot that's in or close to your home board

Attacking Game: A game strategy based on hitting blots in order to keep your opponent's checkers on the bar

B

Backgame: A strategy in which where a player holds two or more points in their opponent's home board

Baffle Box: A special container used to roll the dice, ensuring fair rolls

Bar: The strip down the center of the board

Bear Off: To remove checkers from the board, the last stage of a backgammon game

Block: A point occupied by two or more of your checkers, which keeps your opponent's checkers from being able to pass over that point

Blot: A single checker sitting alone on a point

Boxcars: A roll of two sixes

C

Checker: A playing piece in backgammon

Cocked Dice: When the dice do not land flat on the board during a game

Coffeehouse: To talk during a game in an attempt to distract your opponent

Cover: To move a checker onto a space containing a blot

D

Dance: When a player rolls the dice but does not get a number that allows them to re-enter a checker from the bar

Dead Number: A number on a die that can't be used to make a legal move

Double Hit: To hit with both dice

E

Enter: To bring a checker from the bar back onto the board

Escape: To move your checkers out of your opponent's home board

F

Flunk: To fail to roll a number that allows you to bring a checker back into play from the bar

Forced Move: The only legal move a player can make in a turn

Full Prime: A strong defensive position where a player has made six points in a row

G

Gammon: A situation in which a player wins the game while their opponent has not managed to bear off any of their checkers

Gin Position: A situation in which one player has such a strong advantage that they cannot lose the game

H

Hit: A situation in which a player lands a checker on a point occupied by one of their opponent's checkers, which sends the opponent's checker to the bar

Hit and Cover: A roll that lets the player hit with one die roll and cover their own blot with the other

Home Board: The quadrant of the board where a player must move all their checkers before they can start taking them off of the board

I

Indirect Hit: When a player uses the numbers from both dice to hit an opponent's checker

J

Joker: A lucky roll of the dice

K

Kibitz: To spectate during a backgammon game

Kill a Checker: To move one of your checkers deep into your own home board, where it can't help you make hits or make points anymore

Kill a Number: To move your checkers into a position where you won't be able to play a certain number if it comes up on the next roll

L

Lift: To move a checker to a safe point

Loose Checker: A blot

M

Made Point: A point on the board that is taken up by two or more of your own checkers

Make a Point: To place two checkers on one point

N

No Contact: When no more hits can be made because both players have moved all of the checkers past each other

O

On Roll: The person whose turn it is to roll the dice

Open Point: A point that has no checkers on it

P

Pick and Pass: To hit a blot and then continue moving your checker to a safe point

Point: One of the 24 triangular spaces on a backgammon board

Prime: A group of four or more consecutive made points

Q

Quacks: A roll of two twos

Quads: A roll of two fours

R

Rail: The bar

Recirculate: To intentionally leave blots open so that they'll be sent to the bar and need to go around the board again

S

Safety a Checker: To move a blot to a safe position

Send Back: To send a checker to the bar

Single Shot: A blot that can only possibly be hit by one specific checker

Slot: To place one checker on an empty point that you expect to make on a subsequent roll

Spare: An additional checker on a point that already has two

Switch Points: To move both checkers on a made point forward to make a different point

T

Turn the Corner: To move one of your checkers from your opponent's outer board to your outer board

U

Under the Gun: When you have a blot in your opponent's home board that could potentially be hit by more than two of their checkers

Unstack: To move checkers off of a point that contains at least four checkers

Additional Resources

Learn about the author: Nic Breedlove

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