Scoring in a Backgammon Tournament
A backgammon tournament generally adheres to a match play system. That means, a match can include a number of games and the player who wins the pre-agreed number of points in that match is considered the victor. The winner in the initial level of matches will then move on to the next match level in the tournament. So it's important that players are capable of tallying their current points as well as their opponent's in a match play. So how is scoring in a backgammon tournament determined?
The fixed winning score in a match is called a match length. That means it can be a quick one, three, or five-point match or a long seven, nine or 11-point match play. And the competition director is the person who stipulates the match length in a backgammon tournament.
Individual completed game scores are noted and tallied. Whoever reaches the match length first then proceeds to the next level in the backgammon tournament.
There are three kinds of completed games in a match play and each of them is awarded either one, two or three points. A one-point game is appropriately called a single game. A single game is completed when the losing player was able to bear off at least one piece off the board.
Two points is awarded to the game winner when the loser wasn't able to take off a piece. This kind of completed game is called a gammon or double game. If the loser wasn't able to bear off a piece and has checkers either on the center bar or on the winner's home or inner board, then the winner earns three points. This sort of completed game is called backgammon or a triple game.
When the doubling cube is in play, scoring that completed game is done by multiplying the value of the cube by the kind of completed game it was. For example, if the winner completes a gammon and the cube is at two, the winner earns four points.
And since the doubling cube is used in a backgammon tournament, the Crawford rule applies as well. So if either player reaches a score that's a point shy of reaching the match length, the doubling cube cannot be used in the next game (which is accordingly called the Crawford game).
Knowing how the system of scoring in a backgammon tournament works is important before one thinks of participating in a tourney. Identifying when one earns one, two or three points per completed game in a match play is a necessary know-how to keep tabs of what players' scores are and who's leading in the match. And since it's not unusual to play a number of games to reach the match length, a pen and paper in hand is almost obligatory for both players to keep a close watch on who is winning and who's lagging in the match.