Backgammon notation explained

Read anything about backgammon strategy and you'll hit lines like 13/7 and 8/5(2). It looks like a maths exam.

It's actually a very short way of saying "move this checker there", and it takes only minutes to learn.

The basic move

A move is written as the starting point, a slash, then the finishing point.

13/7 means: take a checker from the 13-point and move it to the 7-point.

Points are numbered from the moving player's own home board, 1 to 24, so the numbers always belong to whoever is making the move.

Two checkers at once

A number in brackets says how many checkers made the same move.

8/5(2) means two checkers go from the 8-point to the 5-point.

6/4(3) means three checkers go from the 6-point to the 4-point, which only happens on a double.

Hits get an asterisk

A star marks a hit.

13/7* means: move from the 13-point to the 7-point, hitting the lone checker sitting there.

If the hit happens partway through a longer move, both steps get written: 13/7*/5 means the checker lands on 7, hits, and carries on to the 5-point.

Coming in and going off

Two words replace a number.

bar/22 means: bring a checker from the bar onto the 22-point.

5/off means: bear a checker off from the 5-point.

So bar/22, 13/11 is a full turn: one checker enters from the bar, another moves down from the 13.

The roll itself

A turn is usually written with the roll first, then the move.

31: 8/5, 6/5 means the player rolled 3-1 and made their 5-point. That's the best opening roll in the game, played the way everyone plays it.

Why it's worth knowing

Three reasons. Strategy articles stop looking like code. Match files and analysis tools all use it, so you can follow a recorded game. And it's much faster than writing "I moved one of the checkers from the point with five on it".

We use it in our strategy pieces, which is why the first move article has a cheat sheet full of lines like 24/13 rather than long descriptions.

The short version

• 13/7: one checker from the 13-point to the 7-point.
• 8/5(2): two checkers, same move.
• 13/7*: that move hit an opponent’s checker on the way.
• 13/7*/5: hits on the 7 and continues to the 5.
• bar/22: entering from the bar.
• 5/off: bearing off from the 5-point.
• 31: 8/5, 6/5: the roll, then the move.