What happens if the opponent takes?

Play continues at double stakes

What does the Crawford rule ban?

Doubling in the game after a player reaches match point minus one

What is a beaver in money play?

Immediately redoubling while keeping the cube

Doubling Cube Quiz: Raising the Stakes in Backgammon

This doubling cube quiz turns a die marked 64 to the number 2. Play 10 interactive questions on the cube's 1920s New York origin, its faces 2 to 64, offering a double before rolling, taking or dropping, cube ownership, redoubles, gammons and backgammons multiplying stakes, the Crawford rule in matches, beavers and the Jacoby rule.

Start Doubling Cube Quiz

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

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Origin
Where was the doubling cube introduced in the 1920s?
Faces
Which numbers appear on the doubling cube?
When
When can a player offer a double?
Take
What happens if the opponent takes?
Drop
What happens if the opponent drops?
Own
Who can offer the next redouble?
Gammon
How much is a gammon worth?
Back
How much is a backgammon worth?
Crawford
What does the Crawford rule ban?
Beaver
What is a beaver in money play?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where was the doubling cube introduced in the 1920s?
Answer: New York
It revived the game.
Q2: Which numbers appear on the doubling cube?
Answer: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64
Each face doubles.
Q3: When can a player offer a double?
Answer: Before rolling on their turn
It comes at the start of a turn.
Q4: What happens if the opponent takes?
Answer: Play continues at double stakes
They now own the cube.
Q5: What happens if the opponent drops?
Answer: They lose the current stake
Also called passing.
Q6: Who can offer the next redouble?
Answer: The player who owns the cube
Ownership passes on a take.
Q7: How much is a gammon worth?
Answer: Double the cube value
The loser bore off no checkers.
Q8: How much is a backgammon worth?
Answer: Triple the cube value
A checker remains deep in danger.
Q9: What does the Crawford rule ban?
Answer: Doubling in the game after a player reaches match point minus one
Used in match play.
Q10: What is a beaver in money play?
Answer: Immediately redoubling while keeping the cube
An optional rule.

Raising the Stakes

The doubling cube was introduced in New York in the 1920s and revived interest in backgammon. Its faces show 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. At the start of a turn, before rolling, a player may offer to double the stakes.

The opponent can take, continuing at double stakes and gaining ownership of the cube, or drop, also called pass, losing the current stake. Only the cube's owner can offer the next redouble. Gammons, when the loser has borne off no checkers, are worth double the cube value, and backgammons triple.

In match play, the Crawford rule bans doubling for one game after a player reaches one point from victory. In money play, optional rules include beavers, where a player immediately redoubles while keeping the cube, and the Jacoby rule, under which gammons count only if the cube has been turned.

What This Quiz Teaches

Strategy game fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the cube came from
How doubles work
What taking and dropping mean
How gammons multiply
Which special rules exist

Did You Know?

The cube starts in the middle at 64.
Good cube decisions win long-run money.
Bots now guide cube strategy.
Match equity tables help decisions.
Overly bold doubles can backfire.