The Backgammon Pip
Backgammon is a board game that uses a player's logic to strategically move checkers at the roll of the dice. The goal is to bear off one's entire checkers before the opponent. A backgammon pip measures the distance between points. For example, a player's 18th and 12th points are six pips away from each other. You'll hear this word all the time in play comments because it's frequently used to determine where a player is at a point in the game and it's also used in reference to specific backgammon tactics.
A pip count or a count, in short, is the number of pips (in total) that checkers should be moved to bring them to the home board and bear them off. For example, three checkers remaining at the fifth point have a count of 15.
One can determine who is in the lead by counting the players' positions. When a player has a lower count than the opponent, that player is said to be ahead in the race or ahead in the count. The other player, in this case, is said to be behind in the race or behind in the count.
A couple of tactics that take advantage of pip moves are: "communicate" and "make time". By communicate, we mean having your checkers within close range of each other or within six pips of one another. This tactic aims to have your pieces or checkers support each other.
Making time refers to the tactic of maximizing checker moves by legally carrying them over a thought-out number of pips without compromising one's position in the race. Compromising situations include unnecessarily hitting an opponent's blot, leaving a blot that works against you, breaking a blockade or a key point, and leaving a dead checker. A dead checker is a useless checker that's left on the opponent's inner board.
While a backgammon pip is the number of spaces between points, a pip count (or count), is the total number of pips that's needed to bring a player's entire checkers to their inner board and bear off. These backgammon terms are used to determine a player's position in the backgammon race as well as to describe a couple of timely tactics. The player who has the lowest count is ahead in the race, while the other player is behind in the race. Checkers moves also use specific numbers of pips to execute tactics to make time or to communicate.