Backgammon Online

03-May-2010
14:55 PDT

what's the 'Pip Count:'?

05-Jun-2010
04:35 PDT

A pip is a triangle in the board, the spot where you put your checkers. If you roll a 5-3 on the dice, for example, you'll move one checker 5 pips, and another 3 pips.

The pip count represents the number of pips you need to roll, at least, in order to win. It is the sum of the distances of each checkers' position to the spot where you bear them off.

06-Jun-2010
06:28 PDT

Technically, I think, the 'pip' is the unit of measurement between two 'points' ('triangles') on the board. It is derived from the name given to the spots on a die. So one pip equals the distance between any two adjacent points. As Rafael says, the 'pip count' represents the minimum total distance your checkers need to travel to clear all of them from the board.
I started a topic about this in the backgammon forum, though I've hardly had much of a response.

The importance of the pip count is that it is a clear way of indicating how much of an advantage you have over your opponent in pure race terms, or vice versa, and can dictate how conservatively or aggressively you should play.

The worse off you are, the more aggressively you should play, taking risks and blotting whenever possible, whereas if you have a significantly lower pip count than your opponent, you should consider playing very cautiously, aiming to get your checkers safely home rather than leaving them exposed and biding your time if necessary until you can bear off safely.

09-Jun-2010
17:54 PDT

Yep, you're right, a pip is the distance between two points... my mistake