How to play Backgammon

Race your fifteen checkers home and bear them off before the computer does — hit its blots, build primes and read the dice.

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Backgammon is around five thousand years old and is roughly half luck, half judgement — over a single game the dice dominate, over a match the better player wins. The rules below cover the parts that decide games and that most casual players have never been told.

The starting position

Each side has fifteen checkers, arranged the same way for both: two on the twenty-four point, five on the thirteen, three on the eight and five on the six, counting from your own perspective. The board's twenty-four points are grouped into four quadrants of six; your home board is the quadrant you are moving into, and every checker must reach it before you can start bearing off.

Using the dice properly

Each die is a separate move. A roll of 5-3 is one checker moved five and another moved three, *or* one checker moved five then three — but the intermediate point must be legal, so a checker cannot jump a blocked point to reach a free one. Doubles are played four times. Crucially, you must use both numbers if any legal sequence allows it, and if only one number can be played, you must play the larger. This rule loses games: a position where you would rather move nothing often forces you to break a point.

The bar, and re-entry

A point held by exactly one checker is a blot. Landing on it sends that checker to the bar, and it must re-enter in the opponent's home board — on the point matching a die — before that side may make any other move. If every one of those six points is held by two or more enemy checkers, the roll is dead and the turn is lost entirely. Six consecutive made points is a *prime*, and a checker trapped behind a full prime cannot escape at all.

Bearing off in backgammon

Once all fifteen checkers are in your home board you begin bearing off, removing a checker from the point matching each die. If you roll a number higher than your highest occupied point, you bear off from that highest point instead. If a checker is hit during bear-off, it goes back to the bar and you must bring it all the way home again before resuming.

Gammons, backgammons and the cube

Winning while the opponent has borne off at least one checker is a single game. Winning before they bear off any is a *gammon*, worth double. Winning while they still have a checker on the bar or in your home board is a *backgammon*, worth triple. In match play the doubling cube multiplies the stake: either side may offer to double before their roll, and the opponent either accepts — taking sole ownership of the cube — or resigns for the current value.

Controls

Click Roll dice (or press Space) to roll.

Click one of your highlighted checkers, then click a highlighted point to move it there; a checker with only one legal move plays on the first click.
Bear checkers off by clicking the tray on the right once all fifteen are home.

Strategy tips

Make points, especially the five point (your bar point's neighbour) and the bar point. A made point both blocks the opponent and keeps your checkers safe.
Count the pip difference before choosing a plan. Ahead in the race, run and avoid contact; behind, keep checkers back and play for a hit.
Do not leave a blot within direct range (1-6 pips) of an enemy checker unless the gain is worth roughly an eleven-in-thirty-six chance of being hit.
Slot the five point early when you have the initiative — being hit costs little in the opening and owning that point is worth a great deal.
Build a prime in front of an anchored enemy checker rather than chasing hits; a checker behind six made points is out of the game.
Keep an anchor in the opponent's home board while you are behind. Losing it converts a losing game into a lost one.
In bear-off, keep your checkers even across the points. A gap forces wasted pips and hands back games that were won.