How to play Backgammon
A race for two with dice and strategy: move all 15 checkers home and bear them off before your opponent.
By admin
Updated
- Players
- 2
- You need
- A board and Dice
- Game length
- 15–30 min
- Difficulty
- Takes some practice
- Ages
- 8+
01 — Goal
Bear off all 15 checkers first
Move all your checkers around the board into your home board (the last six points), then remove them from the board. The first player to bear off every checker wins.
02 — Setup
The starting position
Counting from your own home board: two checkers on your 24-point, five on your 13-point, three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. Your opponent sets up the mirror image. You move from your 24-point towards your 1-point.
03 — A turn
Roll and move
- To start, each player rolls one die; the higher roll moves first using both numbers.
- Move one checker by one die and one by the other, or one checker by both, landing on an open point at each stop.
- A point with two or more of your opponent’s checkers is blocked.
- Doubles are played four times. If you can use a number, you must.
04 — Hitting
Hit a single checker
A single checker on a point is a blot. Land on an opponent’s blot and it goes to the bar in the middle. A player with a checker on the bar must bring it back in through the opponent’s home board before making any other move.
05 — Bearing off
Take your checkers off
Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, use your rolls to remove them: a 6 removes a checker from the 6-point, and so on. If you are hit while bearing off, that checker must travel home again before you continue.
06 — Scoring
Who gets what
- Single game
- 1 point: the loser has borne off at least one checker.
- Gammon
- 2 points: the loser has borne off none.
- Backgammon
- 3 points: the loser still has a checker on the bar or in the winner’s home board.
07 — Tips
Play smarter
- Make points (two checkers together) instead of leaving blots.
- Building your 5-point and 7-point early blocks your opponent’s back checkers.