Backgammon Glossary Dictionary: S

Free from danger of being hit.

See: Magriel’s Safe-Bold Criteria.

A play that leaves no blots, or a play that leaves blots only in positions where the opponent is unlikely to hit. Compare: Bold Play.

Safety a Checker

Move a checker out of danger of being hit.

Safety Up

Cover a blot or move it out of range of being hit.

Sandbag

To conceal or misrepresent your true ability.
To enter a tournament division below your skill level.

Save a Number

To leave a position in which a particular number will play comfortably next turn so you will not be forced you to destroy your position if you roll that number. Typically, you save a number to avoid having to leave a shot or break a valuable point. Compare: Kill a Number.

Save Backgammon

To escape all of your checkers from the opponent’s home board before he is able to bear off all of his own checkers, and thereby avoid losing a backgammon.

Save Gammon

To bear off one of your own checkers before the opponent has borne off all of his, and thereby avoid losing a gammon.

Secure a Point

Cover a blot.

Seed

See: Random Seed.

Seeded Player

A competitor in a tournament whose position in the draw is predetermined to ensure that he will not meet other seeded players in the early rounds of an elimination event. See this thread.

Semiactive Builder

A checker which may or may not be available to make another point, depending on the roll.

Semifinalist

One of the four players competing in the semifinals of an elimination tournament.

Semifinals

The second-last round of an elimination tournament; the one that determines the two players who advance to the finals.

Settlement

A decision to end a game early with the payment of points by one player to the other based on the agreed fair value of the position (see Equity). Settlements are generally not allowed in tournament play.

Settlement Limit

A method of reducing the variance of a cubeful rollout. Any trial in which the equity of a player exceeds a given value (the settlement limit) is terminated at that point and scored as double/drop. See posts by Michael J. Zehr and Kit Woolsey.

Setup

See: Starting Position.

Shake

To mix the dice using a dice cup prior to rolling.

Shark

A good player who seeks out weaker players and persuades them to play for high stakes. (Sharks eat fish.)

Shesh Besh

A Turkish game similar to Western backgammon. See: How to Play Shesh Besh.

Shift Gears

Change game plan.

Shift Points

To give up one point in order to make an adjacent point.

Shot

An opportunity to hit an opposing blot. A direct shot is an opportunity to hit using a single number. An indirect shot is an opportunity to hit using both numbers of the dice played with the same checker.
A particular roll of the dice which could hit an enemy blot. When counting shots, you count each doubles roll once and each mixed roll twice to get a total out of 36.

Shut Out

Close out.

Side Pool

A separate tournament prize fund made up of additional optional entry fees which goes to the highest finishing player(s) of those who entered the side pool. The side pool allows a tournament to keep the regular entry fee low while providing players willing to pay a higher entry fee a chance to win more. See post by Daniel Murphy.

Side Prime

Prime.

Silver Point

[By analogy to the golden point.] A term sometimes used for the opponent’s four-point, the second best point on which to anchor.

Simple Direct Shot

A blot within range of being hit with a single number but for which there are no ways to hit using a combination of numbers on both dice.

Simulation

Rollout.

Single Elimination

A tournament format in which a competitor continues playing until he loses. See: Elimination Format. Compare: Double Elimination.

Single Game

A completed game which is not a gammon or a backgammon; a game in which the losing player has borne off at least one checker. The winner of a single game receives the value of the doubling cube only and no bonus.

Single Shot

One blot which can be directly hit one way. Compare: Double Shot.

Six-Point

The sixth point in a player’s home board; the point adjacent to the bar.

Slot

To place a single checker on a point you wish to make with the intention of covering the blot on your next turn.

Slot and Split: To slot a checker in your own home board while your runners are split.
Small Play: A safe play when a bolder, more aggressive play is available. Compare: Big Play.
Snake: A backgammon variant in which one player starts with nine checkers on the bar and his remaining six checkers in the opponent’s home board. See: How to Play Snake.
Snake Eyes: The roll of 1-1 on the dice (double 1’s).
Snowie: The second commercial neural-net backgammon program (1998) after Jellyfish. Website: Snowie Backgammon.
Solid Prime: A prime with no gaps; a full prime. Compare: Broken Prime.
Spare Checker: An extra checker that can be used for hitting or making a point without leaving behind a blot.
Speed Board: A bearoff position in which you expect to take at least two checkers off every roll, typically when all of your checkers are crowded onto the three lowest points of your home board.

Split: To separate two checkers which are together on a point (usually the opponent’s one-point) and leave them as blots. See: Major Split and Minor Split.
Squeeze: To take advantage of the opponent’s requirement make a move. You leave him a position in which the only move he can make hurts his position. Often this means he is forced to break a valuable defensive point earlier than he would like.
Stack: Four or more checkers piled on a point. See: Candlesticks.
Staine’s Rule: An optional rule where rolls of doubles are played like any other roll; that is, each number is played once, not twice. See: Irish.
Stake: The amount wagered by the participants in a game of backgammon. The current stake is the initial stake multiplied by the value of the doubling cube.
Stakes Play: Money play.
Standard Deviation: A measure of a rollout’s variance or random error. A rollout will be within one standard deviation of its convergence value 66% of the time, within two standard deviations 95% of the time, and within three standard deviations 99.7% of the time. See also: Joint Standard Deviation.
Starting Position: The arrangement of checkers at the start of a game. Each player has 2 checkers on the opponent’s one-point, 5 checkers on the mid-point, 3 checkers on the eight-point, and 5 checkers on the six-point. See: the Rules of Backgammon.

Stay Back

Remain in the opponent’s home board.

Stay Off

Fail to enter from the bar.

Stay Out

Fail to enter from the bar.

Steam

[What happens when a player reaches the "boiling point."] To play wildly, out of annoyance or impatience at one’s bad luck. To lose one’s emotional stability in a gambling context; in particular, to take bigger and bigger risks in an effort to recoup earlier losses.

Steamer

One who steams.

Stone

Checker.

Straggler

The last lone checker heading for home.

Straight Race

Pure race.

Strategy

The overall, long range plans for a game. The reasoning behind a play. See: Game Plan. Compare: Tactics.

Stretched

A position barren of spare checkers or builders and thus prone to awkward numbers; too many points.

Strip a Point

To remove all but two checkers from a point.

Stripped

A position barren of spare checkers or builders and thus prone to awkward numbers.

Stroke

To deliberately make an illegal play or otherwise take an unfair advantage.

Strong Board

A home board with several made points.

Structural Play

A play which makes a strong point.

Suicide Play

To purposely leave a blot to be hit so it can be recirculated. The idea is to improve your timing or shore up your defense in the opponent’s home board. Also known as a Hara-Kiri play.

Swedish Tables

A backgammon variant in which players can win by arranging their checkers into specific patterns within their home board. See: How to Play Swedish Tables.

Swing

The difference in score between winning a game and losing it.
The difference in your equity before a roll and after it, or the difference between rolling poorly and rolling well.

Swiss-Cheese Formation

A position with many gaps and few adjacent made points.

Swiss Format

A method of pairing players in a tournament. Under the Swiss system, players are not eliminated, no player meets the same opponent twice, and successive rounds match players with scores as similar to each other as possible. See post by Osman Guner.

Switch Points

To give up one point to make another, usually in your home board.

Sydney

The roll of 1-6 to escape a prime, usually from the bar and often hitting a blot.

Sympathy Flight

Consolation flight.

Systematic Error

Bias introduced in a rollout because of errors in checker play or cube play.

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