Backgammon tournaments: how they work, and how to prepare

A backgammon tournament is a competition in which players meet in matches: each match is played to a set number of points, and the first player to reach it wins. Games are scored as usual, a single game, a gammon or a backgammon, multiplied by the doubling cube. Winners move on; losers drop to another bracket or out of the event, depending on the format.

Match lengths are almost always odd numbers, set by the organizers for each event and sometimes for each round. Side events tend to use short matches; main events and finals use longer ones. The Crawford rule is standard in tournament play: the first time a player gets one point away from winning the match, the next game is played without the cube (see backgammon match play and the Crawford rule; short version on the rules page).

Who runs it: the tournament director

Every event has a tournament director (TD), who makes the draw, posts the pairings, applies the rules and settles disputes. Find the TD when you arrive: that's where you register and pay, and where you go with any question. Each tournament publishes its own rules and conditions, and they always take precedence over general habits, including anything in this guide.

The format decides how many matches you're sure to play and what a loss costs you. These are the ones you'll meet most often:

Many events combine them: a Swiss phase on the first day followed by a knockout, or a main knockout with a consolation for first-round losers and a last chance for those who lose again. The draw sheet, or bracket, shows who plays whom and how players move through the event: check it after every match.

Larger events split players into divisions, also called flights, by level. The names vary, but you'll typically find a top division (Masters, Championship or Open), an intermediate division and sometimes a beginners' division. The lower divisions are usually reserved for players below a certain rating or record, so experienced players can't enter them.

Entering usually costs two things: a registration fee, which covers the venue and the organization, and an entry fee, which goes into the prize pool of your division. Some club events are free. Around the main event, many tournaments add side events:

• Jackpots: small, quick knockouts for players who want more matches or have been knocked out.
• Doubles: teams of two who consult each other on every checker and cube decision.
• Speed events played on a short clock, and DMP events made of 1-point matches, where only winning the game counts.
• Warm-ups the evening before the main event, and qualifiers that award a place in it.

A live tournament adds a handful of procedures to the rules of the game. They exist to keep every roll fair and every move clear. The details vary from one event to another, but the main ones are much the same everywhere.

Rolling the dice

• Use a dice cup. Shake the dice well and roll them onto the board, on your right of the bar. Dice thrown straight from the hand aren't allowed.
• Some rolls don't count. A die that lands off the board, on the other side of the bar or tilted against a checker or the edge is a cocked die, and both dice are rolled again. Some events also void dice that land on checkers.
• Don't roll too early. Wait until your opponent has finished their move and ended their turn.

Moving the checkers

• One hand, clear moves. Move with one hand, put each checker clearly on its point, and keep borne-off checkers off the board.
• Your turn ends when you pick up your dice or press the clock. Until then you may change your move; after that, it stands.
• Illegal moves are corrected. Usually the position goes back to the roll and the move is played again. Some events let the opponent choose to accept an illegal move instead; the conditions say which rule applies.
• Never touch your opponent's checkers or dice during their turn.

The cube and the score

• Double clearly. Say “I double” and offer the cube at the next value. Touching the cube or announcing an intention can be held to be a double, so don't play with it.
• Take or pass, out loud. A pass ends the game, and the doubler scores the cube's value before the double.
• Keep score in writing. Both players should keep their own running score, compare it after each game, and report the result to the staff when the match ends.

More and more tournaments use game clocks, like chess clocks, so matches finish on time. Each player gets a reserve of time for the whole match, usually in proportion to its length, plus a short delay on every move: the delay runs first, and your reserve only goes down once it's used up. Press the clock to end every turn, even when you have no legal move.

A common setting is two minutes per point of match length, plus a 12-second delay per move, but each event sets its own. If your reserve runs out, you lose the match. In the top divisions the clock is often compulsory; in the others it may be optional, and the TD can put a clock on any match that falls behind.

Managing your time

• Play easy moves quickly. Forced moves, routine bear-offs and obvious plays shouldn't eat into your reserve. Save your thinking for cube decisions and complex positions.
• Spend time where it matters. A cube error can cost a whole game, so cube decisions deserve more thought than most checker plays. Count the pips before you double or take.
• Watch your own reserve. Running short late in a long match leads to rushed errors at the worst moment.

Backgammon tournaments are friendly places, and a few habits keep them that way:

• Be on time. Arrive early, register, and be at your board when your match is called. Late players can be penalized.
• Agree on the setup before you start: board, dice, cups, clock, colors and direction of play.
• Keep quiet near other matches. No comments on the play, yours or anyone else's, while a match is in progress.
• No advice and no devices. Spectators stay silent, and players may not use any aid during a match, apart from keeping score and time.
• Lose gracefully. Shake hands, check the result together, report it, and save the post-mortem for after the match.

Most of your game doesn't change in a tournament. What changes is that you play to win the match, not to collect points, and the score affects your decisions, especially with the cube. The real measure of a decision is your match winning chances, not the points of a single game.

• Early in a long match, the score matters little, and money-game play is a good guide.
• In the Crawford game, there's no cube: no cube decisions, only checker play.
• After Crawford, the leader needs one point and owning the cube is worth nothing to them, so the trailer should almost always double, usually at once (see post-Crawford).
• At double match point, both players need one point: gammons don't matter and the cube plays no part.
• Gammons change value with the score. A gammon can be worth nothing to one player and the whole match to the other: check before you take a risk for one (see gammons in match play).

Match length matters too. The shorter the match, the more a single lucky game can decide it; the longer the match, the more skill tends to show. For the cube at every score, see the cube in match play; players who want to go further study a match equity table.

In the weeks before

• Play matches, not single games. Play to the lengths you'll meet in the event, with the cube and the Crawford rule, so match scores feel familiar.
• Practice on a clock. Get used to pressing it every turn and managing your reserve.
• Revise the skills that cost the most points: opening moves, cube decisions, the pip count and bearing off.
• Review your mistakes. Analyze your practice matches and work on the errors that keep coming back; your PR shows whether you're improving.

On the day

• Read the conditions: format, match lengths, clock settings, start time, and the rules for breaks and lateness.
• Register with the TD and check the draw sheet for your first opponent and board.
• Write down the score after every game and confirm it with your opponent.
• Pace yourself. Tournament days are long: eat, drink water, take your breaks, and don't replay a bad loss in your head during the next match.

• Forgetting the score. Playing a match like a money game, especially with the cube, gives away match winning chances.
• Missing the post-Crawford double. When you trail after the Crawford game, not doubling gives your opponent free chances.
• Turning the cube in the Crawford game. It isn't allowed: the cube is out of play for that one game.
• Running out of time. Spending your reserve on easy moves leaves nothing for the hard ones, and an empty clock loses the match.
• Rushing the procedure. Rolling before your opponent has finished, moving with both hands or ending your turn before you've checked your move leads to disputes and avoidable errors.
• Not checking the bracket or the match length. Confirm both before each match: playing to the wrong length is your responsibility too.

For the classic errors at the board, see common backgammon mistakes.

The best preparation is to play matches in tournament conditions and to learn from your mistakes. On Megammon you can play the bot with no sign-up, play a friend, or play ranked matches online, with the cube, the Crawford rule and a clock.

New to the game? Start with the rules of backgammon, then the five game plans.