KILLER PIP SQUEEZE

 

Here's a scoring device that can increase the drama and cash flow in a backgammon match played for any number of points, or dollars.

SIMPLE PIP SQUEEZE.

    When a player wins a game, he or she also wins a separate number of "pip points" equal to the difference between the winner's remaining pips and the loser's.  

    At the end of the match, compare total pip points and award one extra game point for every 15 extra pip points.

    Single Game Examples:

    You bear all your men off.  Your opponent has three men remaining.  You win one game point and 3 pip points: [ 1 | 3 ].

    Both players have four men on the board.  You roll double sixes.  You win one game point plus four pip points, scored: [ 1 | 4 ].

   You redouble with 11 men on the board.  Your opponent declines with 13 men. Score it: [ 2 | 2 ]. 

   You off an 8-cube before either side bears off; your opponent declines. Score it [ 4 | 0 ].  

You can easily win a game point and lose pip points.  

For example:  You play a back game.  Your opponent bears off nine men.  You get two lucky hits, put two men on the bar, and close out your board.  You double.  Your opponent declines.  You have 15 men left, he has 6. Since 15-6 = 9, you score it [ 1 | -9 ]. Knowing that, you may elect to bear a few men off before you double.  That increases your opponent's opportunities to roll a few lucky doubles and win the race. 

Simple pip squeeze marginally but materially affects your computation of game equity. 

Say you're trying to decide whether to double and cash, or play on for a possible gammon.  Normally you need twice as many probable gammons (+1 each) as probably losses (-2 each).  With Pip Squeeze, though each gammon yields 15 pip points, equal to a whole extra game point.  With the cube in the middle, a gammon is now worth +2.  With the cube a 4, a gammon is worth 9.

     How to Score an Entire Match.

    Just to be sure you understand the rules, here's how two players scored a match game using Simple Pip Squeeze.   

JOE			MARY
PTS	PIPS		PTS	PIPS
1	2		2	0
2	2		4	15
2	15		-	-
4	0		2	11
1	3		-	-
11	22		8	26
			-	22
			=	4
11	0		8	-

In Joe's first win, a long close race, Mary had 2 pips remaining at the end.  [ 1 | 2 ]

In Mary's first win, she re-doubled when both players had six men left on the board.  Joe declined.  Mary won 2 game points and 0 pip points. [ 2 | 0 ]

In Joe's second win, he redoubled with four men on the board to Mary's six. She declined.  Joe won 2 game points and (6 - 4 = 2) pip points. [ 2 | 2 ]

In Joe's third win, he gammoned Mary, winning 2 game points and 15 pip points. [ 2 | 15 ]

Mary's second win was a 4-point gammon.  She also won 15 pip points. [ 4 | 15 ]

In Joe's fourth win, Mary declined a re-redouble to 8 in mid-game.  Neither player had born any men off. [ 4 | 0 ] 

In Mary's third win she accepted a double in a back game position and eventually hit two of Joe's men back. She eventually won with 11 of Joe's men still on the board. [ 2 | 9 ]

Joe finally won the match 11 to 8 in an undoubled running game where he rolled double sixes at the end to catch Mary with 3 men on the board. [ 1 | 3 ]

   Joe wins 11 game points and 22 pip points.  Mary wins 8 game points and 26 pip points, a total of 4 extra pip points.  In simple pip squeeze you need at least 15 extra pip points to win an extra game point, so the final score remains 11 to 8.  No big deal.  But wait...there's more.

   Simple Pip Squeeze did not materially affect the outcome of this particular match.  

    Which is why you may prefer to play... 

KILLER PIP SQUEEZE

      When the winner bears his last man off:

[ 1 ] Award one pip point for every man in the loser's inner board.

[ 2 ] Award two pip points for every man in the outfield.

[ 3 ] Award three points for any men left in the winner's inner board or on the bar. 

When both players have men on the board and a double is declined, count only the difference in numbers of remaining checkers, NOT their position.

     Multiply total pip points by game points.      

   At the end of the match award one game point for every 15 extra pip points, or fraction thereof over 15.  (That is, a margin of 16 pip points wins 2 extra game points!)

    

     

    Here's the same game scored using Killer Pip Squeeze. On this score sheet the central two columns show the running pip counts for each player. 

JOE				MARY
PTS	PIPS			PTS	PIPS
1	2	2		2	0
2	4	6	54	4	60
2	30		24	-	-
4	0		50	2	26
1	3		47	-	-
11	39			8	86
-	-			4	+47
11	-			12	4

In Joe's first win, a long close race, Mary had 2 pips remaining at the end.  [ 1 | 2 ]

In Mary's first win, she re-doubled when both players had six men left on the board.  Joe declined.  Mary won 2 game points and 0 pip points. [ 2 | 0 ]

In Joe's second win, he redoubled with four men on the board to Mary's six. She declined.  Joe won 2 game points and (6 - 4 = 2) pip points times 2 game points. [ 2 | 4 ]

In Joe's third win, he gammoned Mary, winning 2 game points and 15 pip points times 2 game points. [ 2 | 30 ]

 Mary's second win was a 4-point gammon.  Joe had two men in his outer board (2 x 2 = 4) and 11 in his inner board.  4 + 11 = 15.  Mary won 15 pip points times 4 game points. [ 4 | 60 ]

In Joe's fourth win, Mary declined a re-redouble to 8 in mid-game.  Neither player had born any men off. [ 4 | 0 ] 

In Mary's third win she accepted a double in a back game position and eventually hit two of Joe's men back. She eventually won with 11 of Joe's men still on the board.  Joe had two men in his outfield (4 pip points) and 9 men in his home board (8 pip points). 4 + 9 = 13 x 2 = 26 pip points. [ 2 | 26 ]

Joe finally won the match 11 to 8 in an undoubled running game where he rolled double sixes at the end to catch Mary with 3 men on the board. [ 1 | 3 ]

 

    At the end of the match, Joe had 39 pip points and Mary had 86. Mary had 47 extra pip points.  Since 47/3 = 3 with a remainder of 2, Mary won 3 extra game points plus 1 extra for the "fraction thereof."  Those 4 extra game points gave Mary a 12 to 11 win!

    Killer Pip Squeeze forces both players to play every race to the end, to bear off carefully, and to think twice before accepting a tenuous double.  It rewards you for winning holding games and back games, since your opponent must often leave men stranded in the outfield.  It also penalizes you for losing those same types of games if you get gammoned or bear off only one or two men at the end. 

   GAMMONS COST TWICE AS MUCH!

   A doubled gammon is worth 4 game points plus at least (15 x 4) 60 pip points = 4 extra game points for a total of 8.  Gammons that end with loose outfield checkers cost 9 points!

   A player who is way behind on game points can stage a come-from- behind win!  A backgammon with the cube at 2 wins 6 game points plus at least:

1 point for the opposing checker in your board x 3.
14 checkers in your opponent's board.

14 + 3 = 17 x 6 = 102 pip points.

102/15 = 6.8 = 7 game points.  

Total 6 + 7 = 13 points minimum for a BG.

    Because of the extreme penalties imposed on gammons and backgammons, you'll have fewer marginal takes if there's a whiff of a G or BG on the board.  Since many cash positions will become too good to double, I recommend you suspend the Jacoby Rule when playing Killer Pip Squeeze.  You should probably also suspend automatic doubles on tied opening rolls.

   Finally, because Killer Pip Squeeze lets you win an otherwise lost match with enough extra pip points, it forces your opponent, who may be ahead in the game points but behind in the pip count, to think twice about doubling. In the game above, when Mary was 50 pip points ahead, Joe redoubles, winning 4 game points but no pip points.  He might have been wiser to roll out the game winning just 2 game points and five or six pip points - enough to get Mary's lead under 45.

  Killer Pip Squeeze.  It's just something more interesting to think about than the price of gasoline.  Try it.

Oh, for the World's Toughest Card Game, click here.

   

For the complete rules of backgammon, playing tips, other scoring variations, and free software visit our friends at Backgammon On-line.