When planning a battle you need strong foundations and a plan. Backgammon is a battle that requires players to build strong foundations with the 15 pieces they have and use their battle plan or their foundations to decide the action and the outcome. The 12 point battle plan relates to the narrow triangles on each side of the board, these are called Points.

In between is a sort of no man's land called the Bar, this is a sort of thin red line territory that runs vertically through the board creating a divide for the players, until it is necessary to bring it into play. .

The Points are numbered in a clockwise direction starting 1 from the bottom left corner of the home board and ending at 24 on the right hand corner of the home board.

When counting the points as the game progresses, start counting from the edge of the board in the home board of a player. So, Five-point means the fifth point starting from the edge towards the bar of the home board of the player.

Place five checkers on the 6th point, three on the 8th point, five on the13th point and the balance on the 24th point. Your opponent will do the same. The 13th point, where five checkers are placed in the beginning, is called the mid-point. Where is the bar point? It's the 7th point immediately next to the bar where no checker is placed in the beginning. There is another point called the Ace-point. The last point where you can move is essentially the 1st point of yours. So again your mid-point is the opposition's ace-point and vice-versa.

You earn a point, whenever you put two pieces of your own on a single point; this is then a Made point? this stops your opponent landing on that very point. But it doesn't stop them from hitting the blot with two of his pieces at the same time, and when this happens that's seen as a very strong move.

Terms like 'Major Split' and 'Minor Split' refer to different movements; a Major split occurs when one of your pieces is moved from the oppositions' first point to the fourth or the fifth point on the board. The Minor is the movement of your piece from the opposition's first point to the second or third point on the board.

If a player makes all 6 points in his home board then the board is considered closed. ('Closed Board')

If your opposition has any of his pieces on the bar and he cannot find any place for his checkers as all the other Points are taken then he just forego's his rolls until and unless room becomes available. ('Made Board')

Points as the saying goes, Make Prizes, by keeping an eye on and counting your points you'll find that your ability to think ahead improves as move by move equates into bigger point totals. The prize is therefore the win at the end, which could be for fun or for real money.