Have you been thinking about learning to play the game of backgammon? Do you have trouble understanding what people are talking about when it comes to this game? It can be hard to get into a game if you are a beginner and feeing confident that you know what people are talking about helps. Most regular experienced backgammon players know how to use all the phrases specific to this game. If you feel that you get stuck in the game when people start using the typical backgammon phrases it is time to get yourself acquainted with backgammon and its terms.
How to play the game
First of all backgammon is a game for two players. The game is a game of luck and is played with dice. The backgammon board has 24 alternating colored triangles that are divided into four different quarters on the game board. Every quarter on this board is considered to be owned by a player and the other player owns the so-called home board and the outer board of the layout. The board parts are separated by a ridge called a bar. This is a ridge in the middle of the board.
Every player uses 15 checkers of their color, and these are arranged on the board. The idea of the game is for the players to move all their checkers into the so-called home board. The checkers will later have to all be moved out of there and the winner of backgammon is the person to remove all their checkers first. On every turn the player rolls the dice and the checkers have to be moved along the board according to the dice count. Of course the checkers have to be moved in the direction of the home board and it is important to know that the checkers cannot be placed in a spot where at least two of the other player’s checkers are placed already.
The different numbers of the dice stand for two separate moves on the backgammon board. Example: if the two dice show 6 and 2, the player can choose to move one checker and then the other in different places or he can opt to move one checker for the total sum of the two dice. This is only possible if the midpoints on the board are actually occupied.
Backgammon is a game that comes with many phrases and terms and if you want to keep playing the game and maybe even want to take part in a tournament or professional online gaming contest you need to get familiar with these phrases.
Backgammon terminology
Here are a few examples of the most used backgammon phrases to help you play then game:
Ace: This is the name for a rolled die showing only a single pip.
Ace-Point: Another name for one point.
Back Game: This is sometimes called a back game. This can be a strategy used by a backgammon player who is not doing well in the game but has t least two anchors in the other players’ home board.
Back Man: Also called a runner. This is the name for a player’s rearmost stone.
Gammon: The name for a game of backgammon in which a losing player has not yet managed to make a single stone.
Kamikaze Play: This is a game in which one of the players breaks points in your home board aiming to getting backgammon stones to come back around the board again.
Key Point: This is a point required to make it possible for a player to complete a prime in the game front of the opponents stones. In general the four-point, five-point, and also the bar-points are usually actual key points.
With these basic phrases you will be able to play a game of backgammon and talk the talk.
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