What can a player do when offered a double?

Take it and play for double, or pass and lose the current stake

Winning before the opponent bears off any checkers

What is a backgammon win?

Winning while the opponent still has a checker on the bar or in your home board

In money play, what is a beaver?

Immediately redoubling while keeping the cube

What does the Crawford rule ban?

Doubling in the game right after a player reaches one point from match victory

Backgammon Quiz: The Doubling Cube and Strategy

Backgammon is about 5,000 years old, but the doubling cube was only added about a century ago, and this backgammon quiz explains how it changes every game. Play an interactive set of 10 questions on the 24 points and 15 checkers, the bar, bearing off, gammons and backgammons, taking and passing a double, beavers and the Crawford rule.

Start Backgammon Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Checkers
How many checkers does each player start with?
Points
How many points are on a backgammon board?
Cube
Which numbers appear on the doubling cube?
Origin
Where was the doubling cube introduced in the 1920s?
Choice
What can a player do when offered a double?
Gammon
What is a gammon?
Backgammon
What is a backgammon win?
Bar
Where does a hit checker go?
Beaver
In money play, what is a beaver?
Crawford
What does the Crawford rule ban?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: How many checkers does each player start with?
Answer: 15
They race around 24 narrow triangles called points.
Q2: How many points are on a backgammon board?
Answer: 24
They are divided into four quarters.
Q3: Which numbers appear on the doubling cube?
Answer: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64
Each double multiplies the game's stake.
Q4: Where was the doubling cube introduced in the 1920s?
Answer: New York gaming clubs
It turned backgammon into a game of risk management.
Q5: What can a player do when offered a double?
Answer: Take it and play for double, or pass and lose the current stake
Passing ends the game immediately.
Q6: What is a gammon?
Answer: Winning before the opponent bears off any checkers
It counts double.
Q7: What is a backgammon win?
Answer: Winning while the opponent still has a checker on the bar or in your home board
It counts triple.
Q8: Where does a hit checker go?
Answer: The bar in the middle
It must re-enter before other moves.
Q9: In money play, what is a beaver?
Answer: Immediately redoubling while keeping the cube
It is an optional rule.
Q10: What does the Crawford rule ban?
Answer: Doubling in the game right after a player reaches one point from match victory
It prevents the trailing player from doubling immediately.

Backgammon Quiz – Strategy and the Doubling Cube

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games, with roots about 5,000 years old. Each player races 15 checkers around 24 points, hitting lone enemy checkers to the bar and finally bearing off.

In the 1920s, players in New York clubs added the doubling cube, marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. A player may offer to double the stakes; the opponent must take and continue, or pass and lose immediately.

Gammons count double and backgammons triple, so the cube adds deep strategy. Optional rules such as beavers apply in money play, while the Crawford rule governs match play near the finish.

What This Quiz Teaches

Board game fans will enjoy these questions.

How the board is set up
What the doubling cube does
How doubles are handled
What gammons are
Which special rules exist

Did You Know?

The game is called tavla in Turkey and nard in Iran.
Opening moves have well-studied best plays.
Computer programs changed expert strategy.
World championships are held in Monte Carlo.
Dice cups help prevent cheating.