Backgammon is one of the oldest board games still widely played today. Two players race their checkers around the board and off the other side — the first to bear off all fifteen wins. Here's everything you need to know to play your first game.
The board has 24 narrow triangles, called points, split into four quadrants of six. Each player has 15 checkers, starting in the same layout (mirrored for each side): 2 checkers on their 24-point, 5 on their 13-point, 3 on their 8-point, and 5 on their 6-point. Checkers move in opposite directions around the board — each player is racing toward their own home board, the quadrant containing their 1 through 6 points.
Players alternate turns, rolling two dice each turn. Each die represents a separate move: a checker can be moved by the value of one die, then (the same or a different checker) by the value of the other, or both values can be combined to move one checker further, as long as the point it lands on partway is open. Checkers always move toward the player's home board — never backward.
If a player rolls doubles (the same number on both dice), that number is played four times instead of two.
A checker can land on any point that is empty, occupied only by the player's own checkers, or occupied by exactly one opposing checker. A point held by two or more opposing checkers is blocked and cannot be landed on.
A single checker sitting alone on a point is called a blot. If an opposing checker lands on it, the blot is hit and sent to the bar — the dividing strip in the middle of the board. Any checker on the bar must re-enter the game before that player can make any other move, entering into the opponent's home board on the point matching a rolled number. If both dice correspond to points already blocked by the opponent, the checker stays on the bar and the turn is forfeited.
Once a player has moved all 15 of their checkers into their own home board, they can begin bearing off — removing checkers from the board entirely. A roll of a given number bears off a checker from the matching point; if there is no checker on that exact point, a roll higher than any remaining point can be used to bear off a checker from the highest occupied point instead. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins the game.
Most games are played for stakes measured in points, tracked with a doubling cube marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64. Before rolling their dice, a player who feels they hold a strong advantage can offer to double the stakes. The opponent must either accept (taking control of the cube for any future double) or decline (conceding the game at the current stake).
A standard win pays the current cube value. If the losing player has not managed to bear off a single checker by the time their opponent finishes, it's a gammon, worth double. If the losing player still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board when the game ends, it's a backgammon, worth triple.
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