Acey Duecy – A dice roll of 1 and 2

Anchors – 2 or more dice left in your opponent’s home board. It is usually played as strategy when trailing. The idea is to hit an opponent’s blots on a forced move.

Backgammon – A victory by a player against a losing opponents whom has not borne off any of his men, and still has a man or more in the winners home board or the bar. The winner is entitled to 3-points and receives triple the value of the doubling if it was used in the game.

Bar – The middle of the backgammon board where checkers are placed when they are hit.

Bearing Off – The process of removing your men once they have all reached your home board. Each dice result corresponds to a point on the board where a checker can be removed from.

Beavers – A type of Backgammon Rule used during match play which states a player that accepts a double may immediately double.

Blockade – 6 or more consecutive points occupied by two or more men, which are preventing an opponent’s checkers from advancing. Since the highest dice roll is 6 the opponent is essentially trapped behind a blockade.

Blot – A point occupied by a single man which is susceptible to being hit. If a blot is hit by an opponent’s man the checkers is placed on the bar.

Box – Also known as playing the box. This is a term used in Chouettes play or team backgammon match. The player chosen to play as the box plays alone against the team led by the captain. If the player wins he stays in the box. If he loses he joins the team as a regular player.

Box Cars – A term used to describe a dice roll of 6-6.

Captain – A term used for Chouettes play or team backgammon match. The player chosen to play to captain makes all the final decisions regarding moves and may consult his team mates. If the captain wins he becomes the box player. If he loses he becomes a regular team player.

Chouettes – Chouettes is a name for a type of backgammon variant. This version of backgammon is played in a team format. Same standard backgammon rules apply, however players are divided in to teams, a box player plays alone against a team. While the team players can collaborate and discuss moves and play together.

Closed Board – A situation in a backgammon game, where a player has a man on the bar, while his opponent has created a prime or 6 consecutive points in his home board. This essentially locks the player on the bar out of the game since no matter what the dice roll is, he may not re-enter.

Cooked Dice – A case where a die or dice rolled improperly. Cooked die means the die either fell off the board or landed on a checker and is not completely face up.

Crawford Rule – A rule used in backgammon match play. The rule is named after the player and author John R. Crawford. It states that if either player is within 1 point of winning the match, the game is played without a doubling cube.

Crew – A term used in Chouettes or team matches. Used to refer to the captain’s team mates.

Dice Cups – An optional piece of equipment used in playing backgammon. Dice cups are used to ensure the randomness of rolls and reduce the chances of cooked dice.

Die – Plural of Dice. Primary piece of equipment used in backgammon matches. The dice dictates the flow and outcome of the game.

Double – When a player is offered a double, his opponent has used the doubling cube. If the player accepts the double the stakes of the match are doubled.

Double Hit – A situation in a backgammon game where two exposed Blots are hit with one roll.

Doubles – A single roll of the dice which shows the same numbers. For example, a roll of 2-2 or 5-5.

Doubling Cube – This is a die with the following numbered faces: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64. It is only used to double the stakes of the game.

Drop – When a player refuses to accept a double it is said that he has ‘dropped’ the game. When a player drops a game he forfeits the win.

Gammon – A Gammon occurs when a player manages to bear off all his men, before his opponent can bear off a single man. In match play a Gammon is worth 2 points.

Hit – When a player touches down on a blot using one or two dice moves.

Holland Rule – This rule is a rarely used optional rule, named after Tim Holland. This rule states after a Crawford game, a player can not use the Doubling Cube until two roles are played by either player.

Home Board – The section of each players board, where they are required to bring all their men. Players may not begin to bear off men until all their men are in the home board.

Jacoby Rule – This rule is used primarily in match play, it is named after the player and author Oswald Jacoby. It states that if a double has been offered, backgammons and gammons count for only 1 point.

Men – Another name for checkers, a single man equals to a single checker.

Pip – Pips can have two separate meanings, they can either count for one spot on a die which correlate to numeric values. They can also mean a single triangle on the board within the context of distance. For example, the 2-point and the 11-point are 9 pips apart.

Pip Count – Each player begins the game with a 167 pip count. This is maximum amount of pips a player is required to move all his checkers and bear then off the board.

Points – A point occurs when a player positions two or more of his men in a single triangle space on the board.

Prime – 6 Consecutive points occupied by two or more men.

Raccoons – If a player has accepted a beaver, he may redouble for a third time. This triple double is called a Raccoon.

Runners – The two farthest checkers in a players arsenal. They begin play on the opponents 1 point of the board. They are called runners since they have to traverse the entire board before reaching the home board.

Stake – Stakes are referred to when discussing the wager of the game. It can be played for money or in match play it can be played for points.

Straggler – The last man or checker heading towards the home board.

Touch Down – Is the first of two dice move with a single man or a checker. For example of the roll is 4-5 and a player moves 9 pips the 5th pip would be the touch down point.

Tournament – Tournaments are played between a large amount of players. Each round the amount of players is halved, a winner is declared when there is only one player left.

Variants – Different types of backgammon games with varying rules and strategies. There are many types of backgammon variants out there. Most use the standard backgammon rules, while others have completely different rules.