Backgammon: Terms Used and Their Meanings
The very hard to understand backgammon terms that are used, it can make anyone confused with their meaning. Alien to backgammon? Don't worry because there are a lot of people the same as you. Hear the word Anchor or Joker? You get puzzled right because you know what it means but somehow in backgammon, it's different. There are a lot of backgammon terms used today, and we all know they are hard to remember.
Let's take a look at some backgammon terms used most commonly. Know what they mean and next time you get to a game, you can move around like an old pro.
An anchor is considered as more than one chip that is placed within the opponent's inner part of the board. On the other hand, a joker is also known as a roll that can change the result of the game to the person's support, a lucky or great roll
A pip count symbolizes the number of points a player must take to keep bearing off. The players has 167 pip count at the start of the game. Every pip count corresponds to a certain point in the game and it equals to 167 pip count for each player.
There are twenty-four points all in all in backgammon. This does not mean scores, but the triangles which are the spaces. Although, it could be used to score, for how much the game is worth. Sample, a single game is worth 1 point, "gammon" is 2 points, and backgammon is 3 points.
The game is called a single game when you are able to bear off all the opponent's chips, and the opponent is trying to bear you off as well. Then when you are able to bear off all the opponent's chips, but the opponent has not started to bear off yet, it is called a gammon.
More than just the name of the game, backgammon also means another thing. This is when you bear off all the opponent's chips, but the opponent has not started to bear off yet, and at the same time he has a blot on the bar.
The following are the other terms used as action is done during the backgammon game:
Bear off- when the player is proceeding to rid of the opponent's chips
Blot- one chip vulnerable to hits
Hit- attacking the blots of your opponent and the blot is put on the center of the board
Hit and cover- attacking your opponent's blot and all the while, moving the identical chip to defend the blot left exposed
There are more backgammon terms used, but these are the more simple ones. After some time, you can now play like an expert