When to hit in backgammon: blots, hits and safe play

To hit is to land on an opposing blot, a checker standing alone on a point. The hit checker goes to the bar and must enter again in your home board before its owner can move anything else. That one move does three things at once:

• It costs your opponent pips. The hit checker starts its journey again, so every pip it had covered is lost.
• It takes away time. Your opponent has to spend part of their next roll entering, sometimes all of it. That's tempo: a roll used to come in from the bar is a roll not used to attack you or make points.
• It may keep them out. Each point you've made in your home board blocks a number. Against a strong board, the checker on the bar may dance (fail to enter) and lose the whole turn.

How many pips does a hit win?

The count is simple: an opposing checker hit on your N-point loses exactly N pips. So a hit deep in your opponent's home board, on your 19- to 24-point, sets them back almost three rolls, while a hit in your own home board costs them only a few pips.

The table explains a pattern you'll meet all the time. Hits far from home are mostly about the race; hits in your home board are mostly about tempo and the attack, because the pips are small but the checker on the bar has to get past your points. An average roll is 8⅙ pips (the 36 rolls), which is how the table turns pips into rolls.

No single rule decides every position, but most good hits fall into one of these five cases.

• The hit wins a lot of pips. Hitting a checker that has nearly come home, far from your home board, is often a race-winning swing. If you were behind in the race, it can turn the whole game.
• The hit makes a point (pointing on the blot). Landing two checkers on the blot hits it and leaves you a new, safe point at the same time. On your 4-, 5- or 6-point this is often the strongest play available: it gains tempo, builds your board and leaves no blot on that point. On your 1- to 3-point it's less clear: those hits cost your opponent few pips, and a loose hit or another play is often better than breaking up your position to make such a deep point.
• The hit gains tempo against a threat. If your opponent has builders aimed at a key point or a blot of yours, hitting forces them to use half their roll to enter, and often stops the threat for a turn.
• You can hit two checkers. A double hit puts two checkers on the bar: your opponent needs both to enter before doing anything else. It's the classic start of a blitz.
• The hit fights for a key point. A blot on your golden point (your 5-point) or your bar point (your 7-point) is your opponent trying to make that point. Hitting it, even loose, often stops them taking it from you.

A hit is not free. You often leave a blot of your own, and your opponent's checker comes back into play behind your checkers. Play safe instead when:

• The hit gains few pips and leaves you facing many shots. A hit in your own home board often wins only a few pips; if it also leaves many return shots while a quiet play leaves few or none, the quiet play is often stronger. Hits that win a lot of pips are often still right, even with shots. Being ahead in the race is not, by itself, a reason to skip a hit.
• Their home board is stronger than yours. Hitting is then right much less often: being hit back costs you more than you win, because your checker may dance against their board, while theirs comes in easily against yours. Hitting loose is most dangerous here.
• The hit breaks something valuable. Breaking a point of your prime or giving up an anchor to hit costs something: weigh it against what the hit gains. It's a reason for caution when the hit gains little, not a rule against hitting.
• The return shots would hurt you badly. Count the return shots first (see how to count shots), then ask how many of them really hurt: a return hit that leaves you on the bar against a stronger board, or stuck behind a prime, can decide the game. A hit that leaves 17 rolls to hit you back, when a safe play leaves none, needs a big reward.
• A gammon is at stake. If being hit back could cost you a gammon, a safety play is often worth more than the extra gain from hitting.

In a holding game or a priming game, the same idea applies: hit when it helps your plan, not just because you can.

To hit loose is to hit with a single checker and leave it alone on the point, a blot. In your home board, that blot sits right where your opponent enters from the bar. The table counts the rolls that hit it back, with your opponent's checker on the bar and no other opposing checker able to reach it.

Two lessons stand out. First, your made points barely reduce the return shots: any roll containing the blot's number enters and hits, so a blot on your 5-point is hit back by 15 rolls out of 36 with an open board, and still by 13 with four other home points made. Second, what your points do change is dancing. With five points made, your opponent dances 25 times out of 36, so most of their misses are whole lost turns.

That's why hitting loose works best when your board is already strong: a return hit is still possible, but many of their rolls do nothing at all, and if you miss being hit you can cover the blot next turn. Against a strong opposing board, the same loose hit is a much bigger gamble (see entering from the bar). Loose hits are the fuel of a backgammon blitz — and also how one collapses when builders run out.

Sometimes every play leaves a blot. Then the question becomes which one. Three checks cover most positions:

1. Count the shots

Count how many rolls hit each candidate blot. A shot within 6 pips is direct and hits at least 11 rolls out of 36; at 7 pips or more, only combinations hit, and the count drops to 6 or fewer on an open board, before your own points block any of them (the full chart). As a tendency, the farther the blot, the fewer shots it faces, so a far blot is often, but not always, the safest one. The fewest shots is a good tie-breaker, not a law: builders, points and the rest of the position count too.

2. Count what a hit would cost you

Your own checker hit on your N-point loses 25 minus N pips. So a blot in your opponent's home board, on your 19- to 24-point, costs only 1 to 6 pips if hit, which is why splitting your back checkers early is cheap. A blot in your own home board or outer board can cost 13 to 24 pips, and against a strong board, much more than that.

3. Use duplication

If your opponent needs the same number for two good plays, leave your blot where that number also hits. Their 4s now have two jobs, and the rest of their rolls do neither. That's duplication, and it often turns a risky play into a safe one.

In the bear-off the same thinking applies, with even stricter rules: see bearing off against contact.

To slot is to leave a blot on purpose, on a point you want to make, planning to cover it next turn. It's a deliberate risk: if your opponent misses, you've made a key point a turn earlier than you could have safely. It's a niche play: most of the time, a safe play or a hit is better.

• Slot when the shots are few or the hit costs little. A slot is only occasionally the best play; it tends to be right when it faces only indirect shots, or when your opponent can only hit it with a roll that ruins their position.
• Slot key points. The usual point to slot is your 5-point; your bar point is worth slotting less often. Both help build a prime and a strong board.
• Don't slot against a strong board or a gammon threat. If a return hit means dancing or facing an attack, the slot risks far more than the point is worth.
• Count your covering numbers. A slot is only useful if you can cover it: count your builders and the rolls that bring a second checker to the point.

The best-known slot comes on the very first roll. With an opening 2-1, slotting your 5-point (13/11 6/5) is almost as good as the best play, the split 24/23 13/11; with 4-1 and 5-1, the split is clearly preferred to slotting. See our opening moves chart.

• Never hitting. Playing safe every time lets your opponent build freely. A hit that gains tempo is often worth a small risk.
• Always hitting. Hitting for a small gain when it leaves many return shots, or against a stronger board, gives your opponent chances they didn't have.
• Hitting loose without counting the return shots. Before you hit, count how many rolls hit you back, and how many of them also leave you on the bar against a strong board.
• Missing the point-on-the-blot play on a key point. When two of your checkers can land on a blot on your 4-, 5- or 6-point, hitting and making the point is often better than hitting with one.
• Ignoring the pips. A hit deep in your opponent's home board is a big race swing; one on your 1-point barely changes the race.
• Breaking a prime or an anchor for a small hit. When the hit gains little, your structure usually matters more.
• Forgetting the gammon. When being hit back could lose you a gammon, safety first.

For the errors that cost new players the most in the rest of the game, see common beginner mistakes in our rules guide.

Hit-or-not decisions come up in almost every game, so they're the fastest way to improve. Three habits help:

• Ask what the hit gains. Pips, tempo, a key point, or nothing much? If you can't name the gain, look at the safe play.
• Count the return shots. Before you hit loose or leave a blot, count the rolls that hit you, as in the tables above.
• Compare the two home boards. The stronger your board compared with theirs, the more often hitting is right.

Hitting is one tool among several. To see how it fits a plan, read our guide to backgammon strategy, and for the numbers behind every shot, our guide to backgammon odds. To measure your progress across all your decisions, see how to get better at backgammon.