How to Play Backgammon

A backgammon board has 24 narrow triangles called points, grouped in four quarters of six. The raised strip down the middle is the bar, which divides each side into an inner and an outer board.

Points are numbered from each player's own side. You move your checkers from your 24-point down to your 1-point; your opponent's numbering runs the other way, so your 24-point is their 1-point. The quarter holding your points 1 to 6 is your home board, and the goal of the game is to bring all your checkers there and then off the board.

Your checkersYour opponent's

How to set up a backgammon board

• 2 checkers on your 24-point, deep in your opponent's home board
• 5 on your 13-point, called the midpoint
• 3 on your 8-point
• 5 on your 6-point

Your opponent mirrors this on their own numbering. Each player needs two dice, and a match also uses one doubling cube.

Each player rolls a single die. The player with the higher number goes first and plays both numbers as the opening move, their own die and their opponent's. Roll a 5 against a 3 and you start by playing 5 and 3.

If both dice show the same number, both players roll again. That is why the first move of a game can never be a double. From then on, players take turns rolling both dice.

Each die is a separate move. With a 5 and a 3 you can move one checker five points and another three, or one checker eight points in two steps. Moving one checker for both numbers is only allowed if the point where it stops in between is open.

A checker may land on a point that is:

• empty,
• held by your own checkers, in any number, or
• held by exactly one opposing checker, which you then hit.

A point held by two or more opposing checkers is blocked. You cannot land on it, though you can jump over it.

Rolling doubles

When both dice show the same number, you play that number four times. A 6-6 gives you four moves of six, which can be split between checkers however you like.

You must play the whole roll

• If both numbers can be played, you must play both.
• If only one can be played, you must play that one.
• If either could be played but not both, you must play the larger.
• If neither can be played, you lose your turn.

A single checker alone on a point is a blot. If your opponent's checker lands on it, your blot is hit and placed on the bar.

While you have a checker on the bar, you may move nothing else until it is back in play. It re-enters in your opponent's home board, on the point matching one of your dice: a 3 enters on their 3-point, which is your 22-point. A point held by two or more of their checkers is closed for entering.

• If neither number lets you enter, you lose your turn.
• With two checkers on the bar and only one able to enter, you enter that one and the rest of the turn is lost.
• Once every checker has re-entered, any number left over is played as normal.

A hit sends a checker all the way back to the start of its journey. Keeping blots out of your opponent's reach, and hitting theirs, is at the heart of the game.

When all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you may begin to bear off, removing checkers from the board. A 4 bears off a checker from your 4-point, a 6 from your 6-point.

• If the point for your number is empty, you must make a legal move with a checker on a higher point.
• If there are no checkers on higher points, you bear off from your highest occupied point. A 6 with your farthest checker on the 4-point takes that checker off.
• Bearing off is never compulsory. You may move a checker inside your home board instead, if that is legal.
• If one of your checkers is hit during the bear-off, it must re-enter and come all the way home before you bear off again.

The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins. How many points the win is worth depends on how far behind the loser is:

Backgammon is usually played as a match to a set number of points, often 5, 7 or 11. The first player to reach the target wins the match. In a match the points above are multiplied by the value of the doubling cube.

The doubling cube is a die marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. It starts in the middle, at a value of 1. At the start of your turn, before you roll, you may offer to double the stakes.

• Your opponent can accept: play continues for twice the stakes, and they take the cube. Only the cube's owner may double next, which is called a redouble.
• Or they can decline: they give up the game and lose the current stakes, before the double.

Gammons and backgammons multiply with the cube: a gammon with the cube on 4 is worth 8 points.

The Crawford rule

In match play, the first time either player comes within one point of winning the match, the next game is played without the cube. After that one game, the cube is back in use.

Optional rules for money games

Games played for stakes rather than as a match sometimes add automatic doubles (a tie on the opening roll doubles the cube), beavers (redoubling at once while keeping the cube) and the Jacoby rule (gammons count as single games unless the cube has been turned). None of these apply in match play.

Our game does not have the doubling cube yet: every game is played for the points in the scoring table. The cube is the next thing we are building.

There are fifteen possible opening rolls, since a double cannot start the game. These are the standard plays used by strong players and backgammon programs, written as from-point / to-point.

The pattern behind them: make points in front of your opponent's back checkers (especially your 5, 4 and 7-points), bring builders down from the midpoint, and start freeing your two back checkers before they are trapped.

Make the key points

A point you hold with two or more checkers is a wall your opponent cannot land on. Your 5-point is the most valuable, followed by the 4-point and the bar point (your 7-point). Several in a row form a prime; six in a row cannot be passed at all.

Count the race

Your pip count is the total distance your checkers still have to travel. At the start each side has 167. Whoever is ahead in the count should usually race; whoever is behind needs contact, hitting or holding a point, to win.

Know your game plan

• Running game: you are ahead in the race, so you avoid contact and bring checkers home safely.
• Holding game: you keep a point in your opponent's home board and wait for a shot.
• Priming game: you build a wall to trap your opponent's back checkers.
• Blitz: you attack hard, hitting and closing points while your opponent is on the bar.

Weigh the risk of every blot

A blot within six points of an opposing checker can be hit by a single number, so it is in direct range and far more likely to be hit than one seven or more points away. Leave blots where they are hard to hit, or where being hit costs little.

• Leaving the back checkers too long. Two checkers stuck on your 24-point can be primed and trapped. Start moving them early.
• Stacking. Piling many checkers on one point wastes them. Spread them so they can make new points.
• Breaking your home board too early. A strong home board is what makes hitting pay off.
• Hitting without thinking. A hit that leaves several of your own blots exposed can backfire.
• Racing when behind. If the pip count says you are losing the race, look for a holding or hitting game instead.

Point

One of the 24 triangles. Also two or more of your checkers on one, which your opponent cannot land on.

Blot

A single checker alone on a point, open to being hit.

Bar

The strip down the middle, where hit checkers wait to re-enter.

Home board

Your points 1 to 6, also called the inner board.

Outer board

Your points 7 to 12.

Midpoint

Your 13-point, where five of your checkers start.

Bar point

Your 7-point, next to the bar.

Prime

Several points in a row held by one player. Six in a row cannot be passed.

Anchor

A point you hold in your opponent's home board.

Builder

A checker placed where it can help make a new point.

Pip count

The total number of points your checkers still have to travel.

Shot

A roll that would hit an opposing blot.

Closed board

A home board with all six points made, so a hit checker cannot enter.

Gammon

A win before the loser bears off any checkers, worth 2.

Backgammon

A gammon with a loser's checker still on the bar or in the winner's home board, worth 3.

How many checkers does each player have in backgammon?

Each player has 15 checkers. At the start they sit two on the 24-point, five on the 13-point, three on the 8-point and five on the 6-point.

Can checkers move backwards in backgammon?

No. Each player moves in one direction only: you move from your 24-point towards your 1-point, and your opponent moves the opposite way.

What happens if both players roll the same number to start?

Both players roll again until the numbers differ. The higher number goes first and plays both dice, so the opening move is never a double.

Do you have to use both dice in backgammon?

Yes, whenever it is legally possible. If only one number can be played, you must play it, and if either could be played but not both, you must play the larger. If neither can be played, you lose your turn.

Can you land on a point with your opponent's checkers?

Only if it holds exactly one of their checkers. Landing there hits that checker and sends it to the bar. A point with two or more opposing checkers is closed to you.

What is a gammon in backgammon?

A gammon is a win where the loser has not borne off a single checker. It counts double, 2 points. If the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, it is a backgammon, worth 3 points.

How long does a game of backgammon take?

A single game usually takes somewhere between a few minutes and a quarter of an hour. Matches to 5 or 7 points take longer, since they are several games in a row.

Is backgammon luck or skill?

Both. The dice decide any one game, but the choices you make with every roll add up. Over a long match, or many games, the stronger player wins far more often than not.