Normalized Scoring

There are words and phrases that simply fail to capture the imagination, even if they have some relevance to what you are doing. The term Normalized Scoring in backgammon has exactly that sort of effect.

When the subject of doubling strategy is raised, many find it beneficial to discuss the match score based on how many points a player needs instead of how many points he currently has. So if you are playing a 7 point match, and you have 3 points and your opponent is languishing behind you with only 1 measly point, you would refer to the score in terms of "I need 4 points to win" or "my opponent needs 6 points to win". Looking at scoring from the perspective of what is needed instead of what points are currently possessed is called Normalized Scoring.

When normalized scoring is written down, it is often characterized with a minus sign next to it. This is a way of separating it from score that reflects the points that a player has already won.

That is about everything that you will ever need to know about Normalized Scoring. It doesn't serve much of a strategic or tactical purpose, but it is something that most players will run into when they are involved in match play.