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points occupied by the player’s pieces,
then you must move the piece further
along in your home table.
Gammons
If the loser has not managed to bear off
any men but does not have any of his own
men in the winner’s inner table or on the
bar, then the winner scores 2 points. This
situation is called a “Gammon”.
If the loser has not managed to bear off
any men and also has at least one man on
the bar or in the winner’s inner table, then
the winner has made a “Backgammon”
and his basic score is 3 points.
The winner’s basic score is then multi-
plied by the value of the doubling cube to
obtain the actual number of points scored.
Doubling Cube
Use of the doubling cube can make the
game much more exciting. The cube has
its faces numbered 2,4,8,16,32 and 64. At
the start of the game the cube is “in the
middle”, it does not have any effect at
that stage.
Before he rolls the dice to make a move,
a player may take the cube from “the
middle” and offer it to his opponent. If
the opponent accepts the doubling cube,
it is turned up with the number 2 showing
on it. On any of the opponents turns,
before he rolls his dice, he may offer the
doubling cube to the other player. If the
other player accepts it, the face with the 4
is turned up and the cube is held by that
player. This can continue to happen until
the maximum cube value of 64 is
reached.
Hints On Strategy
Early in play it is best to leave your back
pieces alone, unless you can bring them
out on good throws (6-5, 6-6, 4-4, or by
hitting a blot). As the game moves on,
you should try to make a prime which is
six consecutive closed points. Your oppo-
nent cannot move over a prime, so you
have blocked him in, thus increasing your
chances of winning.
You should hit your opponent’s men
when he leaves blots far from you home
table. Enemy blots in your home table are
dangerous to hit, since your opponent
may re-enter and hit your blot sending
you back to the bar and your inner table.
As your opponent makes points in his
home table you should play more cau-
tiously because it will be more difficult
for you to enter a man after being hit.
If you use the doubling cube feature, you
should know when to offer a double. If
you double too soon, your opponent’s
position may improve and he will redou-
ble; if you double too late, your opponent
will not accept the double and your win
may have missed a gammon or backgam-
mon.