What a win is worth

Not every backgammon win is worth the same. How much you win by depends on how far behind the loser was when the last checker came off.

The game ends the moment one player has borne off all fifteen checkers. What that is worth is decided by the position the loser is left in, and there are exactly three answers. If any of the words below are unfamiliar, they are explained in how to play backgammon.

The three results

One point - a single game.

The loser has borne off at least one checker. This is the ordinary result and much the most common.

Two points - a gammon.

The loser has not borne off a single checker. It does not matter how close they came; fourteen checkers home and none off is still a gammon.

Three points - a backgammon.

The loser has not borne off a single checker and still has at least one checker on the bar, or in the winner's home board. Both halves have to be true.

Worked through

The distinction is easier to see from the loser's side of the board.

You lose with two checkers already off.

One point. Bearing off even one checker is enough to make it a single game.

You lose with all fifteen home, none off.

Two points, a gammon. Being home is not the same as being off, and this is the case that surprises people.

You lose with none off and one checker still on the bar.

Three points, a backgammon.

You lose with none off and a checker still sitting on point 24.

Three points as well: your point 24 is inside your opponent's home board, which is where the checker has to be for it to count.

You lose with none off and your last checker on point 10.

Two points. It is nowhere near home, but it is out of your opponent's home board and off the bar, so it is a gammon and not a backgammon.

What it changes in play

Mostly it changes what the player who is losing should be doing. If you are behind and cannot realistically win, the difference between one point and two is the difference between getting a checker off and not, and that is worth playing for even when the game is gone.

It cuts the other way for the player who is ahead. Playing on for a gammon means keeping checkers back to block, which means not bringing them home, which is how a won game turns into a lost one.

The doubling cube

A doubling cube is a six-sided die marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64, used in serious backgammon to raise the stakes during a game. At the start of your turn, before rolling, you may offer to double what the game is worth. Your opponent either takes it - the game is now worth twice as much, and only they may double next - or drops, and you win immediately at the old stake. It is where most of the skill in tournament backgammon lives, because it turns every position into a question about whether you are far enough ahead.

The cube multiplies everything above. A gammon with the cube at 4 is eight points, not two, and a dropped double is worth whatever the stake was before it was offered - so doubling from 1 and being dropped wins one point, not two.

bearoff has one, if you want it. Turn on Play with a doubling cube in settings, and a game has one when your opponent has it on too; the invitation says so before it is accepted. Games started without it are exactly as they were, worth one, two or three points. There is still no match play. The three computer opponents play with a cube too, and they double and drop like the players they are: the panda gets it wrong fairly often, the polar bear rarely.

One thing works differently in a game with a cube, and it is the rule above about doubling before you roll. bearoff normally rolls for you, so your dice are waiting when you arrive. While the cube is yours to turn it cannot do that - seeing your roll and then doubling would be doubling with information you are not entitled to - so you get a Roll button instead, and the cube on the bar lights up. Tap the cube to double, and confirm; rolling is how you decline. Once the cube is your opponent's, your dice are rolled for you again.