Backgammon FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Basic Rules
Introduction
What is backgammon?
What equipment do I need to play?
How do you set up the board?
Who goes first?
What is the object of the game?
What is a gammon? A backgammon?
Where can I get complete rules?
Parts of the Board
What is the bar?
What are the inner and outer tables?
What is the mid-point?
What is the bar-point?
What is the ace-point?
Moving the Checkers
Can I pass when it's my turn?
Can I play one number in such a way as to avoid playing the other?
What if I can only play one number?
Is hit-and-run allowed (also known as "pick and pass")?
Is it ok to have more than five checkers on a point?
Can I play low number first when bearing off?
Is stalemate possible in backgammon?
Common Terms
What is a blot?
What is the bar?
What does it mean to
make
a point?
What is a prime?
What is my home board?
What is a closed board?
The Doubling Cube
What is a doubling cube?
How do you use a doubling cube?
Can I double if I am on the bar and closed out?
What is an automatic double?
What is the Jacoby rule?
What are beavers?
Procedure and Etiquette
How should I roll the dice?
What are cocked dice?
Is there a
touch-move
rule in backgammon?
When is my turn over?
What if I make an illegal move?
Backgammon Notation
What is the 24-point numbering system?
How do you represent moves?
What does a game transcript look like?
What do the asterisks mean?
What do the parentheses mean?
Different Ways of Playing
Tables and Backgammon
What is
tables
?
How is backgammon different from the other games of tables?
Does backgammon have official rules?
Backgammon Variants
What is Nackgammon?
What is hyper-backgammon?
What is long-gammon?
What is roll-over?
What is backgammon-to-lose?
Acey-Deucey
What is acey-deucey?
How do you play American acey-deucey?
How do you play European acey-deucey?
Greek Backgammon
What is
tavli
?
How do you play
portes
?
How do you play
plakoto
?
How do you play
fevga
?
Other Games
What is trictrac?
What is Russian backgammon?
What is French backgammon?
What is Dutch backgammon?
What is snake?
Forms of Competition
What is money play?
What is match play?
What is a freeze-out match?
What is duplicate backgammon?
Table Stakes
What is table stakes betting?
Why is table stakes used?
How does strategy in table stakes differ from unlimited money play?
Chouette
What is a chouette?
What is a multiple-cube chouette?
When is consulting allowed?
What are extras?
Match Play
Introduction
What is match play?
Does it matter how much I win by?
What is the Crawford rule?
What is the Holland rule?
Match Equity Tables
What is a match equity table?
What is the Woolsey-Heinrich match equity table?
What is the Mec26 match equity table?
What is the G11 match equity table?
Which table is best?
Learning Match Equities
What is Janowski's formula?
What is Turner's formula?
What are Neil's numbers?
What is the Muench Formula?
What about 1-away?
Using Match Equities
What is my take point?
How do I calculate my take point?
What about gammons?
Is all this calculation really necessary?
Post-Crawford Play
What is a "mandatory double"?
What is a "free drop"?
What is "the trick"?
2-away 2-away
What is 2-away 2-away?
What is the best cube strategy at 2-away 2-away?
Why do many players wait to double at this score?
Ratings
Introduction
How do ratings work?
How do I get a rating?
What does my rating mean?
What factors affect my rating?
What factors do not affect my rating?
How did the ratings system get developed?
Rating Formula
What are my chances of winning?
How many points are at stake when I play a match?
How much do I win when I win?
How much do I lose when I lose?
Can you give an example?
What is the ramp up?
How much difference does the ramp up make?
Understanding Your Rating
How accurate is my rating?
How does rating difference relate to
PPG
?
Ratings Manipulation
Are there ways to manipulate ratings?
What is a dropper?
What is a 99-in-1 match?
Sidebar: Formulas for Rating Changes
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