Counting Pips on the Backgammon Board

The way to tell if you are ahead or behind during play is to count the number of pips it would take to move all of your pieces off from the backgammon board. A pip is a dot on a die.

When a backgammon board is set up it takes approximately 167 pips to clear or bear off all of the pieces from the board. As the average roll is 7, you can figure, barring unforseen accidents, that 24 tumbles can (and often does) end the game.

It is not quite polite to keep track of the relative pip count while play proceeds. Having a notepad nearby, or explicitly taking the time to tally the total every turn can take some of the enjoyment out of the game. However, there are ways to keep a relative tally in your head. As dice rolls are made, simply add your's and subtract the opponent's. Even keeping track for a couple of turns is enough to help a player determine strategy. At the end a glance at the inner boards of the two players shows an obvious leader. But if things are close, you can quickly tally your pip count by counting one pip for every piece on the one point, two on the two point, etc.

The pip count in Backgammon is rather like counting cards in spades. It is not absolutely necessary, but the knowledge can make a difference when play is close.

Making a Point

Okay, lets start with the basics. What does it mean to make a point? Well, one thing it is not is getting a word in edgewise when your wife chastises you for staying up too late playing video games on line.

Here is a very good definition I found at Backgammon Galore:

You make a point when you bring two or more checkers together on the same point. You now own that point and your opponent may not land or touch down there as long as your checkers remain.

And this is very important. It means that these pieces are safe, and this is fundamental to strategy. A basic idea is to keep as many pieces safe as possible for as long as you can while still progressing your pieces around the board. Just remember, as you play, it will be perfectly impossible to maintain this state of perfect safety for the entire game. The player will occasionally have to take chances by leaving pieces on positions which are not pointed, so to speak.

A good player will know when and where to do this. The pieces that should be risked are those which the opponent has the least opportunity to remove from the board or in which the player has the least forward motion invested.

Get my point?

I Sure Don't Rule at Backgammon

I decided to go online and play some backgammon. Nabisco, the cookie people sponsor some pretty good board games online. I played against the computer, and got shellacked a couple times over. Yes, I did write the rules for backgammon, but it has been a while since I considered myself good at the game.

I usually say that if I win, a game is all skill. If I lose, then the game must have a large component of luck. In fact there is a deal of luck to backgammon, but there is also a wide margin for the skillful player. I think I made a lot of beginner mistakes. Probably, the most aggregious problem was relying too heavily on lagging pieces to try to take off the opposing pieces. Every time this left me vulnerable to having pieces setting on the bar while my opponent filled up her side of the board.

BackGammon Ruler Rules

Okay, I am not so good that I can call myself a ruler. But I did write the rules of backgammon, at least a version of them. I put them together a couple of years ago for InDepthInfo.com. I am somewhat of a game fanatic. I have written websites on all kinds of traditional board games, including, chess, hearts, go, and even the rules of spades.

What is so great about many of the old strategy games, including backgammon, is that the rules are generally simple, while the play is complex. Backgammon requires a certain amount of experience to be played well. Insightful game play can also make a huge difference in scoring. If the game is played for points, the doubling dice can be very important.

I only play for love. Money games make me lose all sense of strategy. I will always take the biggest chances where money is at stake. Having learned this about myself, I won't even buy a lottery ticket, well once in a great while, but not normally.

In any case, this site is going to be about a few thoughts I have about backgammon rules and perhaps a bit of strategy.