Backgammon setup

Backgammon is a game played by two people. They play on a board that consists of 24 narrow triangles which are called points and are laid out in four quadrants. A bar is placed between the left and right halves of the board. The board is placed between the two players, and each player has 12 points in front of him. The 12 points nearest to each player are his home board and outer board separated by the bar.

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.

Figure 1:

Gammongame's backgammon board and its most important elements.

Object of the game

The object of the game is for each player to bring his checkers into his home board and then to bear them off. The player who is first to bear all his checkers off the board wins the game.

The start of the game

Each player rolls one die to decide who will start the game. The player with the higher number moves first using his own roll and the opponent's roll. If the players roll the same number, both must roll again to determine the opening roll.

Moving the checkers

After the opening roll, the two players take turns rolling both dice. The following rules apply to the moving of the checkers:

1. The checkers can only be moved forward, i.e. a checker must always be moved to a point with a lower value than the point on which the checker already stands.
2. A checker can only be moved 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.
3. The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. For example the player can choose to move only one checker, or he can choose to move different checkers for each die.
4. If a player can chooses to move only one checker following a roll, he may only do so if the checker lands on open points both after moving the first number, and at the end of the move. Either number may be moved first.
5. 5. If a player rolls the same number on both dice, e.g. 33 or 55, known as a double, the player must move as if he had rolled that number, e.g. 3 or 5, four times.
6. If at all possible the player must move his full dice roll. If he can only move one die, he must do so. If either but not both dice can be played, the die with the highest number must be used. If neither number can be played the player forfeits his move.

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 five minutes. At the beginning of each roll, the player gets a further 30 seconds before starting to use his five minute 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.

Hitting

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

Entering from the bar

When a player has checkers on the bar, his first priority is to bring the checkers back into play. A player may not 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 onto an open point in the opponent's home board. Re-entry can only be made onto the points which correspond to the numbers on the dice he rolls. If a player cannot re-enter from the bar because the corresponding points are occupied by the opponent, he forfeits his move.

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 die 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. 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.

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.

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 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.

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.