Hitting and the Bar in Backgammon: Sending Checkers Back and Re-Entering
Hitting is what turns backgammon from a simple race into a game of tension and timing. When you land on a lone enemy checker you send it all the way back to the bar, forcing your opponent to re-enter before they can do anything else. This guide explains what a blot is, how hitting works, how the bar and re-entry rules play out, what happens when you "dance," and why a well-timed hit can win the game. Try it hands-on in the interactive lesson above.
What Is a Blot?
A blot is a single, exposed checker sitting alone on a point. Any point that holds just one of your checkers is a blot, and blots are the only checkers that can be hit. The moment you have two or more checkers on a point, that point is "made" — it is safe, and your opponent cannot land there at all.
Reading the board for blots — both yours and your opponent's — is the first real skill of backgammon. Every turn you are weighing whether to leave a blot for a better position, or play safe and keep your checkers stacked.
How Hitting Works
When one of your checkers lands on a point occupied by a single opposing checker, you hit it. The hit checker is immediately removed from the point and placed on the bar — the central ridge that divides the board. Your checker takes its place as if the point were empty.
Hitting costs you nothing extra: it happens automatically as part of a normal legal move. A roll of 4-2, for example, might let you move a checker four points to land squarely on an enemy blot, sending it to the bar, then play the 2 elsewhere.
The Bar and Re-Entering
A player with a checker on the bar is frozen: they must bring that checker back into play before making any other move. The checker re-enters in the opponent's home board, on the point matching one of the dice. If you roll a 3, you can enter on the opponent's 3-point — provided that point is open (empty, yours, or holding a single blot you can hit on the way in).
- You must re-enter from the bar first — no other move is legal until you do.
- Each die corresponds to an entry point in the opponent's home board.
- You can enter on an open point, or hit a blot there as you enter.
- A point made by two or more enemy checkers is closed to you.
When You Can't Come In: Dancing
If every entry point matching your dice is blocked by made enemy points, you cannot re-enter — and you forfeit your entire turn. This is called "dancing" or "staying on the bar," and it is the most painful feeling in backgammon. The more home-board points your opponent has made, the harder it is for you to come in.
This is exactly why building home-board points matters: each made point in your home board is another door slammed shut on a checker you have sent to the bar. Hit your opponent when your home board is strong, and they may dance for several rolls in a row.
Why Hitting Wins Games
A hit does two things at once. It sets your opponent back — sometimes more than 20 pips, all the way from your end of the board to the bar — and it costs them tempo, because they must spend dice re-entering instead of advancing. In a close race, a single hit can flip who is ahead.
Hitting is also the engine behind more advanced plans: the blitz (hitting repeatedly while slamming your home board shut), the back game, and priming attacks. Master the simple hit first, and those strategies will make sense later.
Avoiding Being Hit
The flip side of hitting is not getting hit. Whenever possible, move checkers in pairs so they land on made points rather than as exposed blots. When you must leave a blot, leave it where your opponent is least likely to reach it — count the rolls that would hit you, and prefer the play that gives them the fewest.
Frequently asked questions
What happens when your checker is hit in backgammon?
It is sent to the bar and must re-enter the board in the opponent's home board before you can make any other move. A hit can lose you a lot of ground.
Can you be hit again while on the bar?
No — a checker on the bar is not on a point, so it cannot be hit. But you can be hit the moment you re-enter onto a point where your opponent has a blot waiting, and they could hit you back.
How do you get a checker off the bar?
Roll the dice and enter on a matching point in the opponent's home board, as long as that point is open. A roll of 5 enters on their 5-point, and so on.
What does it mean to "dance" in backgammon?
Dancing means you fail to re-enter from the bar because every point matching your dice is blocked, so you lose your whole turn. A strong home board makes opponents dance.
Is it always good to hit?
Usually, but not always. Hitting is strongest when your home board is well made so the opponent struggles to re-enter. Hitting while leaving your own blots exposed can backfire.