The role of the Backgammon Bar in the Backgammon Board Game

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The backgammon bar is the name given to slightly raised edge running down the center of the backgammon board. The backgammon bar serves to divide the board into two, with home and outer playing areas for each competitor on each side of this division. It is also used as a measurement point for the position of checkers, for example, the checker that is placed on the furthest point from the backgammon bar is called the ace point, while the point closest to the bar is called the bar point.

The backgammon board game rules state that if a lone checker is left on a point, the opposing player can hit this single checker with one of their one checkers and force its removal to the backgammon bar. A checker on the bar is described as being "in the air." When a checker has been removed to the bar, it can only be reentered to the home area of the backgammon board with a dice throw that enables this checker to be moved to an open point.

Since the object of backgammon is to be the first player able to bring all their checkers into their home area of the board, and from here bear them off, or remove them, a player is handicapped while they have checkers left on the bar. Thus, if a player fails to take advantage of an opportunity to remove a checker from the bar, they are considered to have "flunked" in backgammon terminology.