Scoring: single, gammon and backgammonBeginner
A backgammon win is worth one, two or three points depending on how badly the loser was beaten, and then the doubling cube multiplies whichever of those it was. Getting this wrong is how people play a whole evening and score it incorrectly.
The three results
You win a single, worth one point, when your opponent has borne off at least one checker. You win a gammon, worth two points, when they have borne off none at all. You win a backgammon, worth three points, when they have borne off none and still have a checker either on the bar or inside your home board. Those are the only three outcomes, and they are decided entirely by where the loser's checkers are at the moment the winner takes off their fifteenth.
What the diagram shows
Blue has borne off nothing and still has two checkers sitting in cream's home board. If cream takes off their last checker now, that is a backgammon: three points, tripled again by whatever the doubling cube stands at. This is why a losing player races to get a checker off, and why a winning player sometimes delays bearing off their last checker while the opponent is still trapped.
The cube multiplies, it does not add
The doubling cube sets a multiplier for the whole game. If the cube is on 4 and you win a gammon, you score two points times four, which is eight. Not six, and not two. Every score in backgammon is the result value times the cube value, which is why a gammon at a high cube level ends matches.
Match scoring versus money scoring
In match play you are racing to a fixed number of points and anything beyond that number is wasted, which changes how hard you should chase gammons. In money play every point is worth the same, so gammons are always worth pursuing on their merits. That difference is the whole reason strong players ask the score before they decide a move.
The Jacoby rule changes gammon scoring in money play
Many money games use the Jacoby rule, under which gammons and backgammons count as a single point unless the cube has been turned at least once. It exists to stop long grinding games where one side plays on for an undoubled gammon. It is a convention rather than part of the rules, and it is not used in match play.
What most players get wrong
A gammon is two points, so a backgammon is four.
A backgammon is three, not four. The progression is one, two, three rather than a doubling, and only the cube doubles. The other half of the confusion is thinking a backgammon requires both conditions to be dramatic: it needs the loser to have borne off nothing and to still have a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board. A checker merely sitting far back somewhere else does not make it a backgammon.
Play a rated game and every decision gets reviewed afterwards against the best move available. The dice are committed before you roll and checkable after, so the number you end up with is a measure of you, not of luck.
Play a rated game freeFrequently asked questions
How many points is a gammon in backgammon?
Two points, multiplied by the doubling cube value. A gammon is when the loser has borne off no checkers at all.
How many points is a backgammon?
Three points, multiplied by the cube. It requires the loser to have borne off nothing and to still have a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board.
How does the doubling cube affect the score?
It multiplies. A gammon with the cube on 4 scores two times four, which is eight points.
What is a single game worth in backgammon?
One point times the cube value. A single is any win where the loser has borne off at least one checker.
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