What is Tournament Backgammon?
Backgammon tournaments are formal competitions in which the paired entrants compete to eliminate their pre-assigned opponents. The competitors play a series of games until one player has attained (or exceeded) a predetermined number of points which constitute the match length. Points are awarded for single game wins, gammons (double points), backgammons (triple points) multiplied by the value of the doubling cube. After each successive round the total number of players remaining is halved, until just two players remain in the final round that determines the ultimate winner of the event. The size of the total field of players and the match length varies depending on factors such as – interest in the event, and time available for play. A major difference between tournament backgammon, and head-to-head and chouette is the absence of the Jacoby rule – gammons/backgammon do not count unless the cube has been turned. Instead, the Crawford rule (applicable only to tournaments) specifies that
