Backgammon Glossary for Beginners

If computers have different languages, every game has its own set of languages, too. This is so because players need to know what the other player meant to make the game more easily understandable and specific. If you think backgammon is not one of these games, you are mistaken. Backgammon vocabulary is like other games. There is a lot to learn and master bit with sheer diligence, you should be able to learn these things in no time and begin acting like a backgammon master. However, be cautious because if you use the terms at the wrong time, you will look like a beginner who is trying hard to fool around, making people believe he is an expert.

When we say Ace Point, we are referring to the first point in your home board. This also applies to your opponent’s home board. Bear Off is an action that occurs once you have moved your backgammon checker to your home board and start moving them out of the board totally. This is the action you need to do to win the game. Do not confuse this with the term Bear. Bear means you just move a checker to your home board but not remove them. Remember, your goal is to get all your men to your side and take them off the board one by one.

A backgammon checker that is the farthest from you is called the back man. A gammon, on the other hand, occurs when you bear off all of your backgammon checkers which is fifteen in total only if your opponent still has his complete set of backgammon checkers. “Bumps” occur if at any time of checker movement in a backgammon game, you hit another player’s checker. Lastly, a backgammon count refers to the total number of points that a backgammon player has to complete to be able to bear off all his checkers to his home board.

There you go. These are only few of the many terms you can start mastering in the game of backgammon. What you need to do is to consistently use it at every opportunity so you will not forget it. Keep this little backgammon glossary and you will start sounding like a master in no time flat.