Ace: A one on a die
Acey-Deucey: A variation on backgammon in which all of the pieces start the game off of the board and must be brought onto the board before moving forward
Action Play: A strategic move that's intended to make the player's opponent take a hit
Advanced Anchor: When a player has placed one or more of their checkers on the opponent's five point or four point
Anchor: Two or more of your checkers placed on a point on your opponent's home board
Annotated Match: A recorded game that includes comments and an analysis of moves made
Anti-Joker: A roll that makes your position worse
Attack: To hit your opponent's blot that's in or close to your home board
Attacking Game: A game strategy based on hitting blots in order to keep your opponent's checkers on the bar
Backgame: A strategy in which where a player holds two or more points in their opponent's home board
Baffle Box: A special container used to roll the dice, ensuring fair rolls
Bar: The strip down the center of the board
Bear Off: To remove checkers from the board, the last stage of a backgammon game
Block: A point occupied by two or more of your checkers, which keeps your opponent's checkers from being able to pass over that point
Blot: A single checker sitting alone on a point
Boxcars: A roll of two sixes
Checker: A playing piece in backgammon
Cocked Dice: When the dice do not land flat on the board during a game
Coffeehouse: To talk during a game in an attempt to distract your opponent
Cover: To move a checker onto a space containing a blot
Dance: When a player rolls the dice but does not get a number that allows them to re-enter a checker from the bar
Dead Number: A number on a die that can't be used to make a legal move
Double Hit: To hit with both dice
Enter: To bring a checker from the bar back onto the board
Escape: To move your checkers out of your opponent's home board
Flunk: To fail to roll a number that allows you to bring a checker back into play from the bar
Forced Move: The only legal move a player can make in a turn
Full Prime: A strong defensive position where a player has made six points in a row
Gammon: A situation in which a player wins the game while their opponent has not managed to bear off any of their checkers
Gin Position: A situation in which one player has such a strong advantage that they cannot lose the game
Hit: A situation in which a player lands a checker on a point occupied by one of their opponent's checkers, which sends the opponent's checker to the bar
Hit and Cover: A roll that lets the player hit with one die roll and cover their own blot with the other
Home Board: The quadrant of the board where a player must move all their checkers before they can start taking them off of the board
Indirect Hit: When a player uses the numbers from both dice to hit an opponent's checker
Joker: A lucky roll of the dice
Kibitz: To spectate during a backgammon game
Kill a Checker: To move one of your checkers deep into your own home board, where it can't help you make hits or make points anymore
Kill a Number: To move your checkers into a position where you won't be able to play a certain number if it comes up on the next roll
Lift: To move a checker to a safe point
Loose Checker: A blot
Made Point: A point on the board that is taken up by two or more of your own checkers
Make a Point: To place two checkers on one point
No Contact: When no more hits can be made because both players have moved all of the checkers past each other
On Roll: The person whose turn it is to roll the dice
Open Point: A point that has no checkers on it
Pick and Pass: To hit a blot and then continue moving your checker to a safe point
Point: One of the 24 triangular spaces on a backgammon board
Prime: A group of four or more consecutive made points
Quacks: A roll of two twos
Quads: A roll of two fours
Rail: The bar
Recirculate: To intentionally leave blots open so that they'll be sent to the bar and need to go around the board again
Safety a Checker: To move a blot to a safe position
Send Back: To send a checker to the bar
Single Shot: A blot that can only possibly be hit by one specific checker
Slot: To place one checker on an empty point that you expect to make on a subsequent roll
Spare: An additional checker on a point that already has two
Switch Points: To move both checkers on a made point forward to make a different point
Turn the Corner: To move one of your checkers from your opponent's outer board to your outer board
Under the Gun: When you have a blot in your opponent's home board that could potentially be hit by more than two of their checkers
Unstack: To move checkers off of a point that contains at least four checkers
Learn about the author: Nic Breedlove
