Backgammon Tournaments: Formats, Match Play and Key Rules
A backgammon tournament is a series of matches between paired players. Instead of counting single games, each match is played to a fixed number of points, and the winner moves on. This page explains how events are organized and which rules set tournament play apart from a casual game at home. For advice on how to play once you are there, see preparing for club tournaments.
Matches and Match Length
A match is played to a set length, for example 5, 7, 9 or 11 points. Players keep playing games until one of them reaches or passes that total. Odd lengths are the usual choice. Early rounds of an event often use shorter matches to keep the schedule moving, while later rounds and finals are often longer so that skill has more time to show.
Each game is scored in the usual way:
- a single win is worth 1 point;
- a gammon is worth 2 points;
- a backgammon is worth 3 points;
- the result is multiplied by the value of the doubling cube.
A gammon on a cube of 2, for example, earns 4 points toward the match.
Common Tournament Formats
Single elimination. The classic format. Players are paired in a bracket, losers drop out, and the number of players roughly halves each round until two remain for the final.
Consolation and last-chance brackets. Many events give first-round losers a second bracket so they still have matches to play. Some add a further "last chance" event for players knocked out of the consolation.
Round robin. Small groups where everyone plays everyone. Club evenings and leagues often use it because nobody goes home after one match.
Swiss system. Players with similar records are paired in each round, with no one eliminated. It works well for larger fields that want everyone to play the same number of matches.
Rules That Make Match Play Different
No Jacoby Rule
Outside matches, players sometimes use the Jacoby rule, under which gammons and backgammons count only if the cube has been turned. In match play this rule does not apply. A gammon counts double whether or not anyone has doubled, which makes gammons an important part of match strategy.
The Crawford Rule
When one player first reaches a score one point short of the match length, the next game is the Crawford game: no one may use the doubling cube in it. The reason is simple. Without the rule, the trailing player would double immediately in every game, since he has nothing to lose, and the leader's advantage would shrink to almost nothing.
The Crawford rule covers only that single game. If the match is still undecided afterward, the cube comes back into play for all remaining games, known as post-Crawford games. In those games the trailing player usually doubles at his first chance.
Procedure
Tournaments usually require both dice to be rolled from a cup, enforce that a move is complete when the dice are picked up, and have a director who settles disputes. Many events also use game clocks so that matches finish on time.
Getting Started
The easiest first step is a local club tournament or a short online event. You will learn the procedures quickly, and short matches give you plenty of practice with match scores and cube decisions. If you want to know more about the biggest event in the game, read about the backgammon world champions.