Pip counting

The pip count tells you how far each side still has to travel. It is the single most useful number in backgammon, and with a few tricks you can count a position in under a minute.

What a pip is

A pip is one step of distance: moving a checker from your 8-point to your 5-point covers three pips. A checker's pip value is the number of the point it sits on, counted from its owner's side. A checker on the bar counts 25, since it has to enter and then travel the whole board.

Your pip count is the sum over all your checkers still on the board. It is exactly the number of pips you would need to roll to bear off every checker if nothing ever got in the way. The lower your count, the closer you are to winning a race. Each roll of the dice reduces your count by the total you play, and a checker that gets hit adds back the distance it had already travelled.

If points or the direction of travel are unfamiliar, read how to play first. Point numbers are explained on the notation page.

The starting count: 167

Both players start with the same count. From your own side:

Knowing this number is useful in itself. Early in the game you can track the count without recounting: start from 167, subtract each roll as it is played, and whenever a checker is hit, add back the distance it had already travelled. A checker hit on its owner's 20-point, for example, had travelled 4 pips from the 24-point and now restarts from the bar at 25, so its owner's count goes up by 5.

How to count fast

Point by point

The basic method: for each point, multiply the number of checkers by the point number, then add the results. It always works, and it is the method to use when you need an exact answer. Count from the highest point down so you do not skip anything, and keep a running total.

Group into easy numbers

Adding many awkward numbers is where mistakes creep in. Pair checkers so that each pair makes a round total. A checker on the 6-point and one on the 4-point make 10. A checker on the 7-point and one on the 3-point make 10. Two checkers on the 5-point make 10. Three checkers on the 8-point plus one on the 6-point make 30. With practice you start to see a home board as a few tens plus a small remainder.

Shift checkers in your head

Moving a checker mentally from one point to another changes the count by the difference, so you can rearrange a position into one you know and then correct. For example, checkers on the 6, 5 and 4-points (15 pips) are the same as three checkers on the 5-point. If a position is the starting position with a few changes, start from 167 and adjust for each checker that has moved.

Count only the difference

Often you do not need both totals, only who is ahead and by how much. Checkers that sit on matching points for both players cancel out. If you have three checkers on your 6-point and your opponent has three on theirs, ignore both groups. Count only what is left over on each side and compare. This mirror method is fast in bear-in positions where both sides have similar shapes.

Crossovers are not a count

Some players count crossovers: how many times their checkers must move from one quarter of the board into the next to get home. That helps you decide how to bring checkers in efficiently, but it is a rough guide to who is ahead at best. For racing decisions, use pips.

A worked example

Here is a race: every one of your light checkers has passed every dark checker, so neither side can hit again. You are on roll.

Your opponent's checkers are counted from their own side: a dark checker on the point marked 15 is on their 10-point, so it is worth 10 pips to them. Your lead is 12 pips, which is 11.1% of your own count. The next two sections show what that means.

Who is ahead

The player with the lower count leads the race, but the raw difference is only half the story. Two more things matter.

• Who is on roll. The average roll is worth about 8 pips, so being the next to move is roughly a 4 pip advantage. Two players with equal counts are not equal: the one on roll is the favourite.
• How long the race is. A 10 pip lead is huge when both sides have 40 pips left and modest when both have 140. That is why racing guidelines use percentages rather than pips.

Distribution also matters near the end. Checkers piled on low points, or big gaps in your home board, waste pips during the bear-off because some rolls take off fewer checkers than they could. Players call this wastage. A side with a smooth home board can win a race in which it trails slightly on the raw count. The bearing off page covers how to avoid wasting pips.

Racing rules of thumb

In a long race (roughly 90 pips or more each, with no awkward stacks), a widely used guideline is the 8-9-12 rule, measured as your lead divided by your own count, when you are on roll:

• With a lead of about 8% you have a first double.
• With about 9% you have a redouble (when you already own the cube).
• Your opponent can take if your lead is no more than about 12%. Above that, they should pass.

In the example you have 108 pips, so 8% is about 9 pips and 12% is about 12 pips. Your lead of 12 (11.1%) is past the doubling threshold but inside the take limit: double, and your opponent should take. If your lead grew to well above 12%, your opponent should pass, and with a very big lead you would simply be winning the race whatever happened.

These figures are guides, not laws. Shorter races need a bigger percentage lead before doubling, and wastage can move the numbers either way. More refined methods, such as the Keith count, add penalties for stacked checkers and gaps before comparing. For the cube decisions themselves (what doubling, taking and passing mean) see the doubling cube guide.

The best way to get fast is practice. Turn on the pip counts in the game, count a position yourself, then check. Play a game and try it on every race you reach.

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