Backgammon is a board game for two players. Each player starts the game with 15 checkers, 2 dice, 1 dice cup and a special cube called the doubling cube. The players move their checkers around the board based on the rolls of the dice. To win the backgammon game, the player must move all checkers into his home board, and then remove them from the board. The checkers are moved in a clockwise direction. The first player to bear off all the 15 checkers from the board is the winner.

Basic Backgammon Rules

To start the game, each player throws a single die. The player rolling the highest number moves first and moves his checkers according to the numbers rolled on both dice. If both the players get the same number, then both of them roll again until they roll different numbers. After the first roll, the players throw two dice and alternate their turns. The roll of the dice indicates how many points the player can move his checkers to according to the following rules.

1. A checker is moved only to an open point that is not occupied by opposing checkers.

2. The numbers on the two dice have separate moves. That is, if a player rolls 6 and 3, he can move one checker 6 spaces and other checker 3 spaces to an open point, or he can also move a single checker to a total of 9 spaces to an open point only if the intermediate point is also open.

3. A player who rolls doubles plays the number showed four times. That means s roll of 3 and 3 means that the player has four 3’s to use, and can move any combination of checkers.

4. A player should use both numbers of the roll if possible. If only one number can be moved, the player must move that number and must play the larger one. If none of the numbers could be used, the player loses his turn. So the player must play as many numbers as he can.

Hitting and Re Entering

A point occupied by a single checker of either color is called a blot. If the opposing checker comes on a blot, the blot is hit and placed on the bar. If you have one or more checkers on the bar, you must re-enter them into the game before moving any other checker. To re-enter a checker, you must roll a number that allows you to reach a point that is not blocked and must re-enter in your opponent’s home board.

Bearing Off

When all the checkers are in the home board, the players must bear off i.e. remove their checkers from the board. A player bears off a checker by rolling a number corresponding to the point on which the checker resides, and then removes that checker from the board. The first player to bear off all the checkers from his home board wins the game.

Doubling

Doubling is one of the more interesting backgammon rules. The doubling cube starts in the middle of the board and either player has the option to double first. At any time after the first turn, either of the players can offer to double the stakes before rolling the dice. And the other player must choose either to forfeit the game and the current stake or accept the offer. If the stake is doubled, only the player who accepted the offer to double the stake can offer to re-double it. And the other player either forfeits the game or accepts the offer with the opportunity to offer the next double. The doubling cube is used to record the current stake.

Gammon and Backgammon Rules

If a player bears off all the 15 checkers before his opponent bears off a single checker, the player wins a gammon or double game.

And if the player bears off all the 15 checkers before his opponent bears off a single checker, and still has one or more checker in the opponent’s home board or on the bar, the player wins backgammon or a triple game.