Backgammon
Added on Mar, 22 2008 at 9:17 PM by Sarah
The game of backgammon is actually a very simple game. I think most people are more thrown by the terminology than the actual game itself. I at first found the terminology very confusing, and when I would hear others speak about it, would just dismiss the idea of ever playing it. I have since learned what these terms mean and would like to clarify them, for those of you who find words like bearing off and containment to be confusing. Below I have broken these terms down so that a novice can understand.
Points – the narrow triangles
Bar – the strip in the center of
the board, between the inner and outer boards
Bearing Off – removal
of a person’s checkers (men) off the board
Containment –
blocking the opponents checkers in
Boards – the 4 squares that the
playing field is divided into
Inner Board – also your home board,
where your 1-6 points are and the last quadrant before bearing off
Outer
Board – the side of the board where your higher points are
Blot
– a single man on a point
Ace – rolling a 1
Ace Point
– traditional name for the one point arrow
Anchor – a point
with 2 or more of your checkers in your opponent home
Prime –
checkers of one players on 6 consecutive points at least 2 checkers on
each
Quads – double 4’s
Hit – to move to a point,
occupied by one of your opponents checkers, thus causing his checker to
be moved to the bar (center of the board)
Double - offer made by one
player to his opponent during the game (just before the player rolls the
dice) to continue the game at twice the current stakes
Refuse the
double – means the game is over and the person who refused the double
loses
Accept the double – means the game play continues at twice the
stakes, and the person who accepted the double is the only one who can
double next in the same game
Owner of the cube – the player who
accepts the double and then is the only one who can make the next double
in the same game
These are just a few of the common terms used frequently in backgammon. There are many more terms for the more involved player. The game of backgammon and the concepts used are relatively simple, however, getting past the terminology especially when playing with a more advanced player can be difficult. If you know someone who plays online backgammon, have them show you how, and then try to master the terminology as you go. If you just start reading up on all the terms before you begin trying out the game, you will probably be too overwhelmed to try it.