The Bear off

Bear off is the final part of a backgammon game. It may come as a surprise to beginner backgammon players that most backgammon games don’t last until all checkers have been borne off and if the game didn’t end to either player passing a double before the endgame, chances are good that the game will end to a double or redouble during bear off. It is therefore important for a beginner backgammon player to know how you should execute your endgame and what are the correct actions in the most common doubling situations during bear off.

Removing checkers - the basics

There are a few very simple guidelines you must adhere to during bear off. While there are always exceptions and very specific situation when these don’t apply, they are applicable to the vast majority of endgame situations.

1. Try to maintain the smoothest possible checker distribution on your home board.

Maintaining a smooth distribution will help you optimize your rolls and bear off checkers. Stacking checkers on a single point will leave you empty points, or gaps, from which you can’t bear off a checker. Every wasted roll is an added benefit for your opponent.

2. Always bear off a checker if you can.

3. In case you are unable to bear off a checker, fill the highest gap if you can do so without creating another gap.

4. If you can’t bear off a checker or fill a gap as in points 2 and 3, move checkers from the point with the most checkers.

Endgame doubling positions

There are a number of common positions where either you can consider doubling or your opponent has offered a double and you need to take or pass the cube. Most situations can be judged relatively easily, but the cube action guidelines below will help you learn to make the right call.

1. All positions where the player who is on the roll needs at least one fewer roll to bear off all his checkers is a double and redouble for the player on roll and a pass for the opponent. This assumes that neither player rolls a double.

Say it’s your turn to roll and both you require three and your opponent four rolls to bear off all checkers. The cube hasn’t been turned yet (it is centered), therefore you should double and your opponent should pass.

2. Correct play when both players require the same number of rolls to bear off all their men.

The table below shows what are the chances of winning for the player on roll when both players require the same amount of rolls to bear off their checkers. The winning chance is the “cubeless probability of winning“, i.e. the percentage by which the player on roll would win if neither player would double. The table also shows the correct cube actions and if it is a pass or take.

Rolls required	CPW	When you are on roll	When opponent doubles
2	86%	double, redouble	pass
3	79%	double, redouble	pass
4	75%	double, redouble	take
5	72%	double, don’t redouble	take

3. The player on roll with two checkers should double if he is the favorite to bear-off both checkers in one roll. In such case the opponent should pass.

4. The player on roll with three checkers against the opponent’s two checkers shouldn’t double if the opponent is a favorite to bear off the two checkers on his next turn.

However, say the opponents two checkers are e.g. on the six and five points. He then has only 5 possible roll combinations to bear off both checkers on his next roll (6-6, 5-5, 4-4, 3-3, 6-5), which is only a 14% winning chance. Therefore the the player on roll should double and the opponent should pass.

Conclusion

These general backgammon bear off guidelines cover the biggest part of endgame tactics. Obviously there are a multitude of nuances and exceptions which require a little unusual approach and out-of-box thinking but those are out of the scope and the purpose of this article. If you want to read more about bear off tactics try for example Backgammon Galore where the discussion forum archives contain numerous entries about different bear off positions.