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Backgammon RulesBackgammon is a board-game for two players. The purpose of the game is to move all your checkers to your "home board" and to be the first to "bear off", in other words to be the first player to remove all of the checkers from the board.
Setting up the gameThe game consists of a board, 2 dice, and 15 checkers for each player. It can also be played as a gambling game , in which case an extra die (called a "doubling cube") is used. The board has 24 triangles marked on it, and each triangle is called a "point ". A ridge ("the bar") separates the board into two halves, and each half is composed of two quarters, opposite each other. There are six points in each quarter.
Each player has a "home board" (which is the quarter closest to him/her) and an "outer board" (which is the opposite quarter, and the opponent?s home board).
The points are numbered in the following way: the farthest point from the bar in each player's home board is #1, and the numbers rise continuously as you circle the board, so that the point opposite #1 is #24. At the beginning of the game each player places his/her checkers on the board: 2 checkers on point #24, 5 checkers on point #13, 3 checkers on #8, and 5 checkers on #6. Getting startedOnce the checkers are arranged on the board, each player rolls a die in order to determine who will begin. The player who rolls a higher number plays first. If the numbers are equal, both players throw the dice again.
The first one to play rolls the dice (although in some variations the first turn is played according to the numbers that appear on the already rolled dice). In each turn, the player who rolled the dice moves his/her checkers forward (to a lower number point), towards his/her home board. The checkers can only be moved to an "open point" a point that has one or no checkers belonging to the opponent on it. The numbers on the dice can be played separately by moving two checkers, or together by moving one checker twice (as long as the intermediate point is open). If a player rolls doubles (double six, for instance), the number is not played twice, but four times! In every turn a player has to use both numbers that appeared on the dice (and in a case of doubles, move four times), unless he/she is unable to do so. If he/she can only make one of two moves, he/she must play according to the larger number.
"Hitting"When a player only has one checker on a point it is called a "blot". If the opponent lands on a blot, the blot is "hit", and the checker is placed on the bar. The player who was hit can't continue playing until he/she re-enters the game: This is done by throwing the dice in the next turn, and placing the checker in the opponent's home board, on an open point corresponding to the number on one of the dice. If there is no such point, the player loses his/her turn. As soon as the player has no more checkers on the bar, he/she plays the remaining numbers regularly.
Once the checkers have reached a player's home board, he/she can start bearing off, or in other words, removing checkers from the board. After rolling the dice, the player removes two checkers according to the numbers on the dice. If it was a double, he/she removes four checkers from the matching point. If the player has no checkers on that point, he/she must play the number by moving checkers within his/her home board (unless he/she is unable to do so). However, if the number on the die is higher than the highest number point in which the player has checkers, he/she must remove a checker from the highest possible point. For example: if you rolled a six, but you don't have any checkers on point #6, you play by removing a checker from point #5. When a player is hit while bearing off, he /she must enter in the opponent's home board and bring the checker back to his/her home board. Only then can he/she continue bearing off. Whenever there is a possible alternative move, bearing off is not an obligation, meaning the player can decide whether he/she prefers to bear off or move a checker. |
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