How to count pips in backgammon

What a pip is

A pip is one point of distance on the board. A checker on your 8-point needs 8 pips to bear off: 7 to reach your 1-point and 1 more to leave the board. In general a checker on any point needs as many pips as the point's number, counted from your side, and a checker on the bar needs 25.

Your pip count is the total for all your checkers: the distance you still have to travel before you have borne everything off.

Why it starts at 167

At the start you have two checkers on the 24-point, five on the 13-point, three on the 8-point and five on the 6-point. That is 2 × 24 = 48, plus 5 × 13 = 65, plus 3 × 8 = 24, plus 5 × 6 = 30. The total is 167, and your opponent starts with exactly the same.

An average roll moves about 8 pips, since doubles count four times. So a lead of 8 pips is roughly worth a whole roll.

A quick way to count

Go point by point, multiply the number of checkers by the point number, and add as you go. Grouping helps: three checkers on the 6-point is 18, and two on the 5-point is another 10.

A faster habit is to count only what has changed. You know both counts are 167 at the start. Each roll moves the player's count down by the total on the dice, or by double that total for doubles, and a hit adds the distance the checker had already travelled to its owner's count. Keep a running total and you never have to count the whole board.

Using it in a race

Once nothing can be hit, the pip count is the main way to judge the game. The player with the lower count is ahead, but you also have to count whose turn it is: being on roll is worth about 4 pips.

For the doubling cube, a common guide is the 8-9-12 rule. Work out your lead as a share of your own count. With a lead of about 8%, offer a double; with 9%, redouble; and if the leader is more than about 12% ahead, the other player should pass rather than take. If you have 80 pips and your opponent 87, your lead of 7 is about 9%: double, and expect a take.

Using it to choose a plan

Earlier in the game the count helps you choose a plan. If you are well ahead, you want to get your back checkers moving and race home. If you are well behind, racing won't win, so you hold your anchor and wait for a shot. Strong players adjust the plain count for awkward positions, such as many checkers stacked on low points, but the plain count is the place to start.

On OneGammon

You don't have to count by hand while you play: OneGammon shows each player's pip count next to their name, and updates it after every move. Counting for yourself is still worth practising, because it is the habit behind most good race and cube decisions.