Backgammon basics

Backgammon is a game for two people, played on a board that consists of 24 narrow triangles which are called points. The triangles alternate in color and are grouped into four quadrants of six triangles each. The quadrants are referred to as a player's home board (the quadrant that is on your right) and outer board (the quadrant that is on your left), and the opponent's home board and outer board. The home and outer boards are separated from each other by a ridge down the center of the board called the bar. The bar is where checkers are placed after they are hit. After a checker is been hit, it been placed on the bar and can only re-enter in the opponents inner board on a subsequent roll.

A board with the checkers in their initial position.

Pips: Each point corresponds to a pip. I.e. if the player rolls a six, he is allowed to move one of his checkers by six pips etc. On Gammongame's backgammon board the players are able to see the total pips needed to win the game. At the start of a game the players have 167 pips each.

The points are numbered for either player starting in that player's home board. The outermost point is the twenty-four point, which is also the opponent's one point. Each player has fifteen checkers of his own color. The initial arrangement of checkers is: two on each player's twenty-four point, five on each player's thirteen point, three on each player's eight point, and five on each player's six point.

Object of the game

The object of the game is move all your checkers into your own home board and then bear them off. The first player to bear off all of their checkers wins the game.

Direction of movement of White's checkers. Black's checkers move in the opposite direction.

Start of the game

The game starts with the roll of one dice by each of the players. This determines both the player to go first and the numbers to be played. If equal numbers come up, then both players roll again until they roll different numbers. The player throwing the higher number now moves his checkers according to the numbers showing on both dice. After the first roll, the players throw two dice and alternate turns.

Starting the game. Black's will move their checkers first.

Movement of the checkers

The roll of the dices indicates how many points the player is to move his checkers. The checkers are always moved forward, to a lower-numbered point, according the following rules:

1. A checker may be moved only to an open point. Open points are: points with no other checkers, points occupied by the player's own checkers, or points occupied by the opponent by a single checker. There is no limit as to how many checkers are allowed on one point.
2. The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. For example, if a player rolls 3 and 2, he may move one checker three spaces to an open point and another checker two spaces to an open point, or he may move the one checker a total of five spaces to an open point, but only if the intermediate point (either three or two spaces from the starting point) is also open.


Two ways that Black can play a roll of 3:2.

3. A player who rolls doubles (where the same number comes up on both dice) plays the numbers shown on the dice twice. A roll of 5 and 5 means that the player has four fives to use, and he may move any combination of checkers he feels appropriate to complete this requirement.
4. A player must use both numbers of a roll if this is possible (or all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be played, the player must play that number. If either but not both dice can be played, the player must play the dice with the highest number. When neither number can be played, the player forfeits his turn. In the case of doubles, when all four numbers cannot be played, the player must play as many numbers as he can.

Countdown clock

The countdown clock prevents a player from dragging out the game and ensures that there is a winner in every game. From the beginning of each game the clock is set to the 5 minutes for usual game, to the 2 minutes for fast game and to the 1,5 minutes for freeroll tournaments. At the beginning of each roll, the player gets a further 30 seconds before starting to use his time allocation. If the time runs out for a player, his opponent wins the game.

The countdown clock is divided into two parts to clarify the countdown. The right part of the clock shows the time remaining for the game. The left part of the clock shows the time remaining for the present move before the other part of the clock starts to count down time.

In this example 'Player 1' have 2 minutes and 24 seconds to make his move.

Hitting

A single checker of either color located alone on a point is called a blot. If the opposite player moves his checker to land on a point where the opponent has a blot, the blot is hit and placed on the bar. This may occur after moving any of the individual moves corresponding to the numbers on the dice.

In this example Black's have blots on 22 and 24 points. White could hit Black from 3 positions: 17 - 22; 19 - 22; 19 - 24. (Combination of 17 - 22; 19 - 22 is preferable)

Entering from the bar

When a player has one or more checkers on the bar, his first priority is to bring those checkers back into play. A player cannot make any other move before he has brought his checkers on the bar back into play. A blot which has been hit can be brought back into play by entering the checker to an open point in the opponent's home board (between the 18-24 points). A checker is entered by moving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numbers on the rolled dice. For example, if a player rolls 5 and 2, he may enter a checker into either five point or two point in the opponent's home board, as long as it is not occupied by two or more of the opponent's checkers.

If a player cannot re-enter from the bar because the corresponding points are occupied by the opponent, he forfeits his move.

Once all of the player's checkers are entered to the opposite home board from the bar, any unused numbers on the dice must be played, by moving either the checker that was entered or a different checker.

Bearing off the checkers

Once a player has brought all his checkers into his home board, he can start bearing off his checkers. Once a checker has been borne off it cannot be brought back into play. The checkers are borne off the board from points which correspond to the numbers shown on the dice. If a dice shows a number higher than the highest point with remaining checkers on it, a checker from the highest numbered point must be borne off, and this counts as playing the number in full.

Black rolls 5 and 6, and bears off two checkers.

If a checker has been hit and is placed on the bar while the player is bearing off checkers, the player is unable to bear off more checkers until that checker has been brought round the board and into his home board again. The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins the game.

Gammons and backgammons

The player who bears off all his checkers first wins 1, 2 or 3 points. If the opponent has borne off any checkers before the winner bears off his last checker, the winning player wins a normal victory, which equals 1 point. If the opponent has not borne off any checkers when the winning player bears off his last checker, the winner wins a gammon victory, which equals 2 points. If the opponent has not borne off any checkers and he still has a checker or checkers left in the home board of the winner, or on the bar, the winner wins a backgammon victory, which equals 3 points.

When one of the players didn't make any moves he loses 1 point. If player stops playing during the game, he loses 3 points.

After the end of the game number of points which was won are multiplied by the value of the doubling cube.

The doubling cube

All matches are played using the doubling cube. As described earlier the loser of a game loses 1 point (a plain game), 2 points (gammon) or 3 points (backgammon). The object of using the doubling cube is to increase the number of points which can be won in each game. If the doubling cube has been used, the winner will win 1, 2 or 3 points multiplied by the value of the doubling cube. If the doubling cube shows 2 and the player wins a gammon, four points will be won instead of the usual two. If the doubling cube shows 4, the player will win 8 points if he wins a gammon. Whilst the doubling cube is still centred either player may choose to double before he rolls the dice and, once offered, a double cannot be withdrawn. When one player doubles, his opponent has the choice of either accepting or declining the double. If the opponent accepts the double, the players then play for 2, 4, or 6 points (plain game, gammon or backgammon respectively). If the opponent declines the double, the game will end, and the first player will win 1 point. If the opponent accepts the double, the first player will lose access to the cube, and it will move to the opponent's side of the board with the new, doubled, level pointing upwards. At a later stage, the opponent may choose to redouble to 4. If or when that happens, the first player must now consider whether or accept or decline the double to 4. If the first player chooses to drop the double, he will lose 2 points (the current level of the doubling cube), and the game will end. If the first player accepts the double, the doubling cube will be placed on his side of the board with the number 4 pointing upwards. In this way the doubling cube can move back and forth between the players during the game.

Matches

On Gammongame backgammon you can play matches up to a pre-arranged number of points. The player who reaches this number of points first wins the match. The winner also wins the prize money for that match, or in the case of a tournament, the winner wins the right to proceed. It is irrelevant how many points are won over and above the number required to win the match.

The Crawford rule: When one player reaches a score whereby he only needs 1 point to win the match, neither player may double in the next game. If this game does not end the match, doubling is allowed again in all subsequent games until the match is completed.

The Jacoby Rule: Gammons and backgammons count only as a single game if neither player has offered a double during the course of the game. This rule speeds up play by eliminating situations where a player avoids doubling so he can play on for a gammon.

Beavers: When a player is doubled, he may immediately redouble (beaver) while retaining possession of the cube. The original doubler has the option of accepting or refusing as with a normal double.

Automatic double: If identical numbers are thrown on the first roll, the stakes are doubled. The doubling cube is turned to 2 and remains in the middle.

Tournaments

On Gammongame backgammon you are able to join tournaments. You will play according to the normal backgammon rules in each match, and the winner of each match proceeds to the next round. The loser is eliminated and will not be able to play any further games in the tournament. In each match you play for a share of the prize money consisting of the total of all the players’ stake money. The total prize money will be divided between the winning players according to the prize money schedule for each tournament.