Backgammon Tournaments

Backgammon tournaments are normally decided by single elimination matches in the same way as major tennis tournaments. Competitors are paired off and each pair plays a series of games to decide which player will progress to the next round. Players eliminated in the first round normally go into a consolation event (or plate) and, if it is a big enough tournament like the World Championships, there will be a second consolation and ultimately a Last Chance.

Matches are played to a specified number of points. Consolation and Last Chance events are always played to a smaller number of points than the main event. The first player to accumulate the required number of points wins the match. Points are awarded in the usual manner: one for a single game, two for a gammon and three for backgammon. The doubling cube is used, so the winner receives the value of the game multiplied by the final value of the doubling cube. Thus if a player wins a gammon with the cube on 4, he wins eight points. If the players were playing a 7-point match, the match would be over in one game.

Matches are normally played to an odd number of points and the Crawford Rule is always used. The Crawford rule states that if one player reaches a score one point short of the match (i.e. he is at match point), neither player may offer a double in the following game. This one game without doubling is called the Crawford game. After the Crawford game, if the match has not yet been decided, the doubling cube is available again and the player who is trailing in the match should double at the first available opportunity.

There is no bonus for winning more than the required number of points. When playing a match to a certain number of points, the winner is the first person who wins that number of points. It doesn`t matter if he wins more than that number, or how many points his opponent has scored. The sole goal is to win the match, and the winning margin is immaterial.

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