How to count pips (and tell who's actually ahead)

Halfway through a game, somebody usually says "I think I'm ahead". Usually they're guessing. There's a way to know, and it takes about twenty seconds.

A pip is one step

Every number on the dice is pips: a 4 moves a checker four pips. Your pip count is the total number of pips you'd need to bring every checker home and off the board.

A checker on your 6-point needs 6 pips. One on your 13-point needs 13. Add up all fifteen and you have your count.

At the start of a game, both players have exactly 167 pips to travel. Fair, for about one roll.

How to count without losing the will

Counting all fifteen checkers one by one is slow. Two things make it quick:

Count by stacks, not checkers. Five checkers on your 6-point is 30. Three on the 8-point is 24. Multiply, don't tally.

Count only what differs. At the start both sides are identical, so only the checkers that have moved since matter. If your opponent's position mirrors yours apart from two checkers, compare those two and stop.

Most players count their own side, then their opponent's, and subtract. With practice you'll do it in one pass and only keep the difference.

Then add about eight for the roll

Whoever is on roll is effectively that much further ahead, because they're about to move. An average roll is just over eight pips: 8.17, if you want to be precise about it, because doubles bump the average up.

So if you're 6 pips ahead and it's your turn, you're really 14 up. If you're 6 ahead and it's theirs, you're 2 behind. Plenty of races are lost by forgetting this.

What the number is for

Knowing you're ahead is only useful if it changes your play. It does, in two ways.

Ahead in the race: run. Avoid contact, don't start fights, don't leave shots. A pure race is just arithmetic, and the arithmetic is on your side.

Behind in the race: don't run. You need contact, which means blocking, holding an anchor and waiting for a shot. Running is the one plan that cannot work.

This is the calculation that Safe or bold quietly assumes, and it's why the same move can be right for one player and wrong for the other in an identical position.

It also tells you about the cube

A clear lead in a pure race is the classic reason to offer the doubling cube, and a clear deficit is the classic reason to pass one. Once the checkers can't hit each other, the pip count is the whole story: no skill left, just distance.

When to bother

Not every turn. Count when:

• the two sides have nearly passed each other and a race is forming
• you're deciding whether to break contact or hold on
• somebody is thinking about the cube

Otherwise, play on. Counting pips in the opening is like checking the map before you've left the house.

The short version

• A pip is one step. Your pip count is the total steps left for all fifteen checkers.
• Both players start on 167.
• Count stacks, not checkers, and compare only the checkers that have moved.
• Add about eight pips for whoever is on roll.
• Ahead in the race: avoid contact. Behind: keep it.
• In a pure race, the pip count is the whole game.