If you have come across terms such as BMAB, XG, PR, Grandmaster, Master and Advanced in backgammon tournaments but are still unsure how they relate to one another, start with one important point: BMAB is not an analysis engine, and XG does not award championship titles to players.
The basic chain works roughly like this: a player competes in an official qualifying match, the match is recorded and transcribed, XG analyzes the decisions, a Performance Rating or PR is produced, and BMAB then uses PR, playing volume and other conditions to determine which level or title the player has reached.
So an excellent PR alone does not make someone a Grandmaster. Playing volume and consistency also matter.
What Is BMAB?
BMAB stands for Backgammon Masters Awarding Body, an organization that evaluates the technical performance of backgammon players in qualifying matches and awards Mastership titles and Proficiency levels according to published criteria.
In a typical tournament, the final result mainly tells us who won and who lost. BMAB asks another question: how well did the player actually play?
To answer that question, matches are recorded and transcribed, and then eXtreme Gammon, or XG, analyzes the quality of the player's decisions. One of the most important outputs of that analysis is the Performance Rating, or PR.
What Is the Official BMAB Website?
Information about the BMAB structure, title requirements, results and evaluation criteria is published on the official BMAB website.
BMAB does not report only PR. Player results also include information such as win rate and Elo.
What Is XG and What Role Does It Play in BMAB?
eXtreme Gammon, or XG, is specialized backgammon analysis software. It evaluates a player's decisions and shows how far a selected play is from the best analytical choice.
That difference is measured through the concept of Equity Loss. In other words, XG does not merely say whether a play was good or bad; it shows how much value the player lost by making that decision.
This is what makes XG analysis more useful than simply counting mistakes. A small error and a very costly error do not have the same impact on a player's evaluation.
What Is Performance Rating or PR?
PR stands for Performance Rating and summarizes the overall quality of a player's decisions in a single number.
The main rule is simple: in PR, lower is better.
For example, a PR of 3.20 indicates more accurate play than a PR of 7.80, because a lower number means the player lost less Equity on average through weaker decisions.
How Is PR Calculated?
According to the official eXtreme Gammon explanation, Performance Rating is based on Equity lost per decision and is scaled by multiplying by 500.
In simple terms, the logic can be written as follows: PR equals Equity lost per countable decision, multiplied by 500.
However, not every move in a match necessarily counts as a decision for PR purposes. XG excludes forced moves and some obvious decisions from the decision count. Checker-play and Cube decisions may also contribute depending on the situation.
So PR should not be treated as a simple count of mistakes; the severity of each error also matters.
A Simple PR Example
Suppose two players make a similar number of countable decisions in a match. The first player makes many choices that are only slightly worse than the best move, while the second plays most positions very well but makes a few very large mistakes.
Their number of mistakes may look similar, but their final PRs can be very different. XG does not only ask, “How many times did you make a mistake?” It also considers the total amount of Equity lost.
Does Every PR in XG Count Officially for BMAB?
No. You can analyze a personal game in XG and receive, for example, a PR of 4.80, but that does not mean you have earned the BMAB Master title.
Under BMAB rules, matches that count toward official EP and PR must meet specific requirements, including:
- The match must be played live over a physical board.
- A clock must be used.
- The match must be designated in advance for this purpose.
- The match length must be at least 7 points.
- The relevant BMAB tournament or individual application conditions must be followed.
Matches are also recorded and transcribed for review and analysis. So an attractive PR from a casual game is not the same as an official BMAB PR.
How Does BMAB Analyze Matches with XG?
The BMAB process is not simply a matter of opening a file in XG and reading the PR. According to BMAB's official explanation, files are analyzed using the current version of XG and specified settings.
- Standard World Class Analysis
- Gigantic Search Interval
- 15×8 Bearoff Database
- Calculation of Resignation errors
BMAB analyzes each Match at least twice and uses the analysis file with the lowest overall PR. The video and transcription are then checked as well.
This step matters because an official title must be tied to the player's actual performance over the board, not merely to a number produced from an unidentified file.
Why Are Matches Recorded on Video?
When PR is used as the basis for an official title, BMAB must make sure the analysis file matches the actual match that was played.
- Camera: records the real match.
- Transcription: converts the moves into a file that can be analyzed.
- XG: analyzes the quality of the decisions.
- BMAB: reviews the result, PR, EP and the player's eligibility conditions.
What Is EP?
EP stands for Experience Points. In BMAB, EP is calculated from the combined length of qualifying Matches.
For example, a 7-point Match contributes 7 EP, while an 11-point Match contributes 11 EP to the player's qualifying experience total.
That means one outstanding performance is not enough. A player may record a very low PR in one Match, but that single result does not qualify them for Grandmaster. Both quality and sample size matter.
What Is Grandmaster in BMAB?
The Grandmaster title in BMAB has several levels, and each level has both a PR threshold and a minimum EP requirement.
- Grandmaster 3: PR of 4.00 or lower and at least 150 EP
- Grandmaster 2: PR of 3.50 or lower and at least 200 EP
- Grandmaster 1: PR of 3.00 or lower and at least 250 EP
- Grandmaster 0: PR of 2.75 or lower and at least 300 EP
So the statement “I once recorded a PR of four, therefore I am a Grandmaster” is incorrect. The title is based on official criteria and accumulated performance.
What Is Master?
Before the Grandmaster levels come the Master titles:
- Master 3: PR of 6.50 or lower and at least 100 EP
- Master 2: PR of 5.50 or lower and at least 100 EP
- Master 1: PR of 4.75 or lower and at least 100 EP
A player must maintain the required level of performance over a sufficient volume of qualifying Matches. One excellent PR in a single match does not award the Master title.
What Is Advanced?
Advanced belongs to BMAB's Proficiency Levels and is not part of the Mastership Titles.
- Advanced 3: PR of 10.00 or lower and at least 100 EP
- Advanced 2: PR of 8.50 or lower and at least 100 EP
- Advanced 1: PR of 7.50 or lower and at least 100 EP
BMAB also includes Intermediate levels in its Proficiency structure. In broad terms, the progression runs from Intermediate and Advanced to Master, Grandmaster and Super Grandmaster.
What Is Super Grandmaster?
Above Grandmaster are three Super Grandmaster levels:
- Super Grandmaster 3: PR of 2.50 or lower and at least 300 EP
- Super Grandmaster 2: PR of 2.25 or lower and at least 300 EP
- Super Grandmaster 1: PR of 2.00 or lower and at least 300 EP
Even recording a PR below 2 in one match is not enough by itself to earn the Super Grandmaster title. The player must also meet the EP threshold and BMAB's other requirements.
What Is Considered a Good PR in Backgammon?
In general, a lower PR indicates more accurate play. However, XG's performance classifications and official BMAB titles should not be treated as the same thing.
For example, a player might record a PR of 3.8 in one tournament and play at a very high level, but still lack enough EP or other requirements for a Grandmaster title.
What Is the Difference Between PR and Elo?
PR and Elo are two different metrics.
PR mainly answers the question: how good were your decisions? Elo mainly tracks how successful a player has been competitively against other players.
A player may lose a match while recording an excellent PR. Conversely, a player may win the Match while producing a weaker PR.
For example, suppose Player A wins the match with a PR of 8.5, while Player B loses with a PR of 3.2. The result favors Player A, but in terms of decision quality, Player B has the better PR.
Winning and losing are not the same as PR, and PR is not the same as Elo.
Is PR the Same as Error Rate?
In some backgammon tournaments and media, the term Error Rate appears alongside PR. For greater precision, PR is best understood as Performance Rating: a number that summarizes overall decision quality based on Equity lost in XG analysis.
Why Does One PR Not Tell the Whole Story?
Suppose one player records a PR of 1.90 in a single 7-point Match, while another player has an average PR of 3.20 across a much larger volume of play.
You cannot conclude from those two numbers alone that the first player is stronger. This is where sample size matters.
One match can be exceptional. When a player repeats a high level of decision-making across more Matches, the resulting picture of their performance becomes more reliable. BMAB's EP structure is designed to incorporate that playing volume into the official evaluation.
What Does BMAB Actually Measure?
In one sentence, BMAB evaluates the quality of a player's decision-making in real qualifying matches, using standardized XG analysis across a defined volume of play.
The question is not only “Who won the match?” There is another important question: “Who played the better backgammon?” This is exactly where XG and PR become meaningful.
Summary: How Should You Remember the BMAB Path?
- XG: analyzes the match.
- Equity Loss: shows how much value was lost through decisions.
- PR: summarizes overall decision quality in a single number; lower is better.
- EP: records the volume of qualifying Matches.
- BMAB: reviews PR, EP and the official requirements.
- Advanced, Master, Grandmaster and Super Grandmaster: define a player's official performance level or title according to published criteria.
If you remember only one point from this article, let it be this: becoming a Grandmaster does not happen because of one exceptional match; a player must repeat a high level of decision-making across a substantial volume of qualifying play.