Gammon RivalsGlossary
- Anchor
- Two or more of your checkers on a point in your opponent’s home board. Somewhere safe to land, and the main defence when you are behind.
- Backgame
- A deliberate strategy of holding two anchors deep in the opponent’s home board and playing for a late hit. Hard to play, worse than it looks.
- Backgammon
- The biggest win: the loser has borne off nothing and still has a checker on the bar or in your home board. Worth triple.
- Bar
- The ridge down the middle of the board where hit checkers wait. They must re-enter in the opponent’s home board before anything else moves.
- Bar point
- Your 7-point, next to the bar. A key blocking point in the early game.
- Bear in
- Bringing your last checkers into your home board, ready to bear off.
- Bear off
- Taking checkers off the board. Only possible once all 15 are home; first to remove all 15 wins.
- Beaver
- An optional rule where the player being doubled may immediately redouble and keep the cube. Not used in standard match play.
- Blitz
- Attacking a lone opponent checker hard and early, aiming to close them out while they sit on the bar.
- Blot
- A single checker alone on a point. It can be hit.
- Box
- In chouette play, the single player who takes on the whole team. Not used in one-on-one matches.
- Closed board
- All six points in your home board are made. An opponent on the bar cannot enter at all until you open a point.
- Crawford rule
- When a player first reaches one point short of the match target, the next game is played without the cube.
- Cube
- The doubling cube. Doubles the value of the current game when offered and taken.
- Direct shot
- A blot within six pips of an enemy checker, so a single die can hit it.
- Double
- An offer to double the value of the game, made before rolling. Also, a roll of the same number on both dice.
- Drop
- Refusing a double. You concede the game at its current value.
- Gammon
- A win where the loser has borne off no checkers. Worth double.
- Hit
- Landing on a blot and sending it to the bar.
- Home board
- Your last six points, where checkers gather before bearing off. Your opponent’s home board is where their hit checkers re-enter.
- Indirect shot
- A blot more than six pips away, hittable only with two dice combined.
- Market loser
- A roll that would make your position too strong for the opponent to take a double. Counting them tells you to double now.
- Midpoint
- Your 13-point. The five checkers that start there are the supply line for the rest of the game.
- Pip
- One point of movement. The pip count is the total distance your checkers still have to travel.
- Prime
- Consecutive made points. A six-prime cannot be jumped by any die and traps everything behind it.
- Race
- A position with no contact left, where both sides simply run home. The pip count decides it.
- Slot
- Placing a single checker on a valuable point, hoping to cover it next turn. Aggressive; invites a hit.
- Split
- Moving your two back checkers onto different points to create anchor chances.
- Take
- Accepting a double. The game is now worth twice as much, and you own the cube.
- Too good to double
- A position so strong that doubling would let the opponent drop for one point, when playing on wins a gammon.
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