BACKGAMMON faq: LEARN ABOUT POINTS, STANDARD SIZES, STRATEGY AND MORE
One thing classic gamers agree on is that backgammon is a brilliant game. That’s mostly because it’s perfect for people of all different skill levels to play in a way that’s fun for them.
At Crisloid, we’ve manufactured high-quality backgammon sets for decades, and based on feedback from customers, friends, and the Crisloid Crew (we’ve played more than almost anyone!), we came up with some common questions to include in our FAQ.
While there are plenty of variations regarding setups for different types of backgammon games, for the most common setup, each player starts with 15 checkers:
- Two on their 24-point.
- Three on their 8-point.
- Five each on their 13-point and their 6-point.
When people talk backgammon strategy, you’ll hear a lot about specific ‘points’ on the board. If you’re sitting at a backgammon board, from right to left in a horseshoe pattern 1-24 are your points (They look like long triangles). From 1-6 is called your home board, and 7-12 is your outer board. On the other side of the board 13-18 is the opponent’s outer board and 19-24 their home board. A quick way to orient yourself is to remember the opponent’s one-point is your 24-point. Some strategic points include the 7-point, or the bar point, the 13-point is called the midpoint and the 5-point for each player is sometimes called the golden point.
Science backs up the fact that no two backgammon games ever turn out the same. Research has made advances in computer programs that analyze gameplay for online games and test different strategies. These tech tools are based on 15 white and 15 black checkers and 24 possible positions. The math (don’t ask us to show our work) reveals that backgammon has 18 quintillion possible positions.
Most tournaments don’t have specific rules for the board sizes. However, tournament boards are typically on the larger side and made for a backgammon checker of approximately 44mm in diameter. Crisloid’s backgammon tournament attaché boards measure 30¼” × 20¾” × 1¾”. Our Tabletop Tournament Backgammon Set board dimensions are 27½” × 23½” × 1¼”. Both sets feature 1¾” x ½” checkers. You can be confident bringing your Crisloid board to any tournament and flexing on the competition.
The backgammon doubling cube has the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 on its faces. Even though it’s never rolled, the doubling cube is a fun, strategic part of backgammon. Just leaving it to the side means you’re missing an integral part of the game. Expert players say you can expect to win 25 percent of the time from any position where you tactically should accept a double. Using the doubling cube is more complicated than this, but it’s a great way to start digging into strategy.
Backgammon checker size is important in terms of how it impacts the overall feel of gameplay and whether they “fit” a backgammon set. While there’s no standard size carved in stone, most tournament boards use 1.75 checkers. What you want to avoid is backgammon checkers that take up too much room. For example, if you have checkers on every point in a quadrant and they’re too big it’s a tight fit (or they don’t fit at all). Depending on the size of our Crisloid backgammon sets, we use 1’, 1.5” or 1.75” checkers designed to fit the boards perfectly during play and store away snugly.
At Crisloid, we’ve worked with customers to build backgammon sets that celebrate family, personal milestones, corporate events, and plenty of fun designs. Are they worth it? We think so, because when customers design their own board, it becomes something that has more personal connection than a standard set and may even be something passed to the next generation. If you’re curious about a custom set, check out Crisloid’s Custom Backgammon Designer. This helpful tool walks you through the available customization options and their costs. To learn more about building your perfect set, contact us today.