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How to play Backgammon

Goal

Move all 15 of your checkers around the board into your home board, then bear them off. The first player to bear off all 15 wins. One game, no doubling cube.

Setup

The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, in four quarters of six, with the bar down the middle. You move from your 24-point towards your 1-point; your home board is points 1–6 (bottom right, on your side). Your opponent moves the opposite way. Each side starts with 2 checkers on the 24-point, 5 on the 13, 3 on the 8 and 5 on the 6.

Rolling

• To start, each player rolls one die. The higher number moves first and plays both of those numbers. Ties roll again.
• After that you roll two dice at the start of each turn — the game does it for you.
• Rolls are produced fairly by both players' browsers together: each one adds a secret random number and they are combined, so neither player (nor the server) can choose or predict the dice.

Moving

• Each die is a separate move: tap a checker, then tap one of the lit-up points. One checker can use both dice (land after the first number, then move on).
• You may land on an empty point, your own point, or a point with one opposing checker. Points with two or more opposing checkers are blocked.
• Doubles (e.g. 4-4) are played four times.
• You must use both dice if you can. If only one can be used, you must use the larger one if possible. If you can't move at all, your turn is skipped automatically.
• Your move is sent when all dice are used. Before that, tap Undo to take back a step.

Hitting & the bar

• A single checker alone on a point is a blot. Landing on an opposing blot hits it: it goes to the bar in the middle.
• A checker on the bar must come back in through the opponent's home board before any other checker of that side may move (with a 3 you enter on the opponent's 3-point, which is your 22-point). If the entry points are blocked, the whole turn is lost — that's called dancing.

Bearing off

• Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board you may take them off: a 4 removes a checker from your 4-point, and so on.
• If the point for a number is empty, you must move a checker from a higher point. If there is no checker on a higher point, you may bear off from your highest occupied point.
• If one of your checkers is hit while bearing off, it must come all the way round again before you continue.

How the game ends

• The first to bear off all 15 checkers wins.
• It's a gammon if the loser hasn't borne off any checker, and a backgammon if the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board. (The win is recorded with how it ended; there are no points or cube.)
• The numbers next to the player names are pip counts: how far each side still has to move. Lower is better.

Tips

• Make points (two or more checkers together) — your 5-point, 4-point and bar point (7) are the most valuable.
• Avoid leaving blots where your opponent can hit them easily, especially close to your home board.
• Several made points in a row form a prime that traps the opponent's back checkers.
• Once nobody can hit anybody it's a pure race — just get home and bear off efficiently.

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