What Is Match Play?

When backgammon tournaments are held to determine an overall winner, the usual style of competition is match play. Competitors are paired off, and each pair plays a series of games to decide which player progresses to the next round of the tournament. This series of games is called a match.

Matches are played to a predetermined specified number of points. The first player to accumulate the required number of points wins the match. Points are awarded: one for a single game, two for a gammon, and three for a backgammon. The doubling cube is used, so the number of points a player receives is multiplied by the value of the cube. Automatic doubles, beavers, and the Jacoby rule are not used in match play.

We should emphasize that there is no bonus for winning more than the required number of points in a match. The players' sole goal is to win the match, and the final score is immaterial. This can lead to some apparent inequities.

Consider a three-point match which one player leads 2 to 1. The player with 2 points would seem to have a significant advantage until you realize the strategy available to the player with 1 point. That player will simply double at his first opportunity in the next game. The player with 2 points is then forced to either (1) accept the double, in which case that game will decide the match, or (2) refuse the double, giving up a point, so that the following game decides the match.

This situation has lead to the adoption of a rule called the Crawford rule. The Crawford rule states that if one player reaches a score one point short of the match, neither player may offer a double in the immediately following game. This one game without doubling is called the Crawford game. After the Crawford game, if the match has not yet been decided, the doubling cube becomes available again.