Basic Rules Of Backgammon

Backgammon is one of the oldest games in the world, and can be traced back nearly 5000 years! If you’ve never played backgammon before here are the rules:

The game of backgammon is played on a board which is marked out with 24 triangles which are called points. These triangles alternate in colour and are grouped into 4 quadrants which consist of 6 triangles each. The points are numbered for either player starting in the players home board (the inner table next to you), the outermost point being the 24 point, which is your opponents 1 point. The aim of the game is to try and get your checkers, of which you have 15 of the one colour (e.g: black), into your home board, and then to bear them off the board. If you manage to do this before your opponent gets his or her 15 (e.g: white) checkers off the board then you are the winner of the game. White checkers move in a clockwise direction and black in an anti-clockwise direction on the board.

To set up the game you need to arrange the checkers so that you have two on your 24 point, five on your 13 point, three on your 8 point and five on your 6 point. Your opponent has the same set up. Each player will be in possession of a pair of dice and a doubling cube which has the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 on its faces. Backgammon is played for a stake, which has been agreed at the start of the game and the doubling cube is used when you feel as though you have a good advantage. You can then make your opponent use the doubling cube to multiply the stake of the game – be warned that this can only be used at the start of your turn, before you have rolled the dice.

The player who roles the highest dice goes first, and throwing takes place in turn. You can move two checkers the numbers rolled by the individual dice or you can move one checker the total of the two dice. You always move forward, to an open point – a point that is not occupied by two or more opposing checkers – checkers belonging to your opponent. It is worth bearing in mind that a point with one or more pieces on it is safe and your opponent cannot land there, but points with only one checker on (a blot) is a vulnerable checker because if your opponent lands on the point your checker will be taken.

Once you have moved all your checkers into your home board, you begin to bear off, which you do by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on which your checker is sitting. If you roll the correct number you can take the checker off the board. However if there is no checker on the point indicated by the rolled dice then you must use a checker on a higher number point. Where it all gets tricky is when, if your checker is hit by your opponent during your bearing off phase then you have to bring the checker back to your home board before you can start bearing off again!

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