The move that sends a checker all the way back to the beginning.
A checker sitting alone on a point is called a blot. If you can land on it, you hit it: the checker goes to the bar and has to start its journey again from the very beginning.
That is the single most damaging thing you can do in backgammon, and it costs you nothing but the move itself. Below, white is on roll with 6 and 3. Black has left a checker alone.
White to play 6 and 3. Find the hit.
Notice what hitting is not: it is not capturing. The checker isn't removed from the game, it's sent back to the start. In a race that is worth a colossal number of pips; against a strong home board it can be worse, because the checker may not be able to re-enter at all.
Which is exactly the next thing worth learning.
Rules stick faster when something is at stake.
Play free