Backgammon is a game for two players. Each player has 15 checkers and races them around a board of 24 points, guided by two dice, into their own home board and then off the board. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins. Along the way you can hit an opponent’s lone checker and send it back to the start, and build blocking points that it can’t land on. This guide covers the setup, every rule of the standard game and how scoring works, including the doubling cube.
Overview
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Players | 2 (or 1 against the computer) |
| Typical time | 15 to 30 minutes per game |
| Ages | About 8 and up |
| Equipment | A board with 24 points, 15 checkers per player, two dice (sets often include a pair for each player), an optional doubling cube |
| Type | Race game with hitting and blocking; luck from the dice, skill in how you use them |
Backgammon belongs to the family of “tables” games, which were played on boards like this one across the Roman Empire, the Middle East and medieval Europe. The rules most people use today settled in England and America, and the doubling cube was added in the 1920s. Close relatives are still played across the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia under other names.
Backgammon board setup
The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, in four groups of six. A raised strip in the middle, the bar, splits it into halves. Each player has a home board (the six points nearest the end of their route) and an outer board. Points are numbered 1 to 24 from each player’s own side, so your 1-point is the last point before you bear off and your 24-point is the farthest away. Your 24-point is your opponent’s 1-point.
The backgammon setup is the same for both players. Each player places their 15 checkers like this, counted from their own side:
- Two checkers on the 24-point, in the far corner of your opponent’s home board. These are your back checkers.
- Five checkers on the 13-point, often called the midpoint, in your opponent’s outer board.
- Three checkers on the 8-point, in your outer board.
- Five checkers on the 6-point, in your home board.
Your opponent mirrors this from their side. Check the setup by looking at each corner: every quarter of the board has exactly one stack of yours and one of your opponent’s in the same positions, reflected. At the start each player needs 167 pips to bear everything off (a pip is one point of movement).
Objective
Move all 15 of your checkers into your home board and then bear them off. The first player with no checkers left on the board wins. How big the win is depends on how far your opponent got (see Scoring).
Turn order
The opening roll
Each player rolls one die. The player with the higher number moves first, and their first move uses the two numbers just rolled, their own and their opponent’s. If both dice show the same number, both players roll again. On this site the game rolls both dice for you in one tap and repeats ties automatically.
Every turn after that
Players alternate. On your turn you roll two dice and move your checkers by the numbers shown. You must roll before you move, and once the dice are played your turn ends.
Movement and special rules
Moving by the dice
Each die is a separate move. With a 5-3 you can move one checker five points and another three, or one checker eight points in total. When one checker takes both numbers it must stop on the in-between point first, so that point has to be open. Checkers always move forward toward your home board, never backward, and any number of your own checkers may share a point.
Doubles
If both dice show the same number, you play that number four times. A roll of 4-4 lets you move 4 pips four times, split among your checkers in any way, such as one checker 16 pips or four checkers 4 pips each.
You must use both dice when you can
You must play both numbers if there is any legal way to do it. If you can play only one number, you must play it. If either number could be played but not both, you must play the larger one. With doubles you play as many of the four moves as the position allows. This rule sometimes forces an awkward move, and it is one of the rules beginners most often miss. On this site illegal choices simply aren’t offered.
Blocked points
A point holding two or more of your opponent’s checkers is blocked (it is “made” by your opponent). You can’t land on it, though you may jump over it. Six blocked points in a row, a prime, can’t be passed at all.
Hitting a blot
A single checker alone on a point is a blot. If you land on an opponent’s blot, you hit it: it is lifted off and placed on the bar. Hitting is not compulsory unless it is your only legal move, and you can hit more than one blot in a turn, even with the same checker if it stops on each blot along the way.
Entering from the bar
If you have a checker on the bar, you must bring it back in before you move any other checker. It enters in your opponent’s home board, on the point matching one of your dice: a 1 enters on your 24-point, a 6 on your 19-point. You can’t enter on a blocked point. With two or more checkers on the bar, all of them must enter before anything else moves. If no number lets you enter, you lose the rest of your turn. When all six points are blocked, the opponent has a closed board and you can’t move at all until a point opens.
Bearing off
Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you may start removing them. A die removes a checker from the point with that number: a 4 bears off a checker on your 4-point. If that point is empty, you must make a legal move with a checker on a higher point. If there are no checkers on higher points, you may use the number to bear off from your highest occupied point, so a 6 can bear off your last checker on the 3-point. You are never forced to bear off when another legal move exists, but you must still use both numbers if you can. If one of your checkers is hit while you are bearing off, you must bring it all the way back home before bearing off again.
No legal move
If your roll has no legal move at all, your turn simply passes. This happens most often with a checker on the bar against a strong home board. Here the game announces it and hands the turn over. When a roll can be played in only one way, the game also plays it for you, one checker at a time, so you can follow what happened.
Scoring: single games, gammons and backgammons
Backgammon has no draws. When one player bears off their last checker, the result is one of three kinds:
| Result | When | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Single game | The loser has borne off at least one checker | 1 |
| Gammon | The loser has borne off no checkers | 2 |
| Backgammon | The loser has borne off none and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner’s home board | 3 |
Players usually play a series of games or a match to a set number of points. This site shows the result type at the end of every game and keeps a running score for your session.
The doubling cube (optional, not used here)
In many real-world games the stakes can rise during play with a doubling cube, a large die marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. At the start the game is worth 1 and the cube sits in the middle. Before rolling, either player may double, offering to play on for twice the stakes. The opponent either accepts (takes the cube and the right to redouble later) or refuses (resigns and pays the current value). Gammons and backgammons multiply the cube value. Common extras include the Jacoby rule, where gammons count only after a double, and the Crawford rule in matches, which forbids doubling for one game once a player is a point away from winning. Games on this site are played without the cube, so a single game, gammon or backgammon is always 1, 2 or 3 points.
Variants and which one this site uses
This site uses standard backgammon: the setup and rules above, an opening roll with ties rolled again, gammons and backgammons scored, and no doubling cube. Other games played on the same board include:
- Nackgammon. The same rules but a different start: two checkers on each of the 24- and 23-points and four on the 13-point and 6-point, three on the 8-point. Games tend to last longer.
- Hypergammon. Each player has only three checkers, on the 24-, 23- and 22-points. Games are short and very tactical.
- Acey-deucey. All checkers start off the board and are entered by the dice, and a roll of 1-2 earns bonus moves.
- Plakoto. A Greek game where landing on a blot pins it in place instead of sending it to the bar.
- Long nardy. Played in Russia and the Caucasus: there is no hitting, each player starts with all 15 checkers on a single point, and both players move in the same direction.
Common mistakes and disputes
“I’ll move my other checkers first.” Not while one is on the bar. Entering comes first, every time.
“I’ll just play the small number.” If only one of the two numbers can be used, it must be the larger one whenever the larger can be played.
“My checker can jump to the end.” Moving one checker with both dice needs an open point after the first number. If both in-between points are blocked, the combined move is illegal.
Bearing off too early. All 15 checkers must be home. A single straggler on your 7-point stops you from bearing off.
Counting the starting point. You count only the points you move to. A 3 from your 8-point lands on your 5-point.
Forgetting gammons. Losing without bearing off a checker doubles the loss. If the game is going badly, getting at least one checker off can save a point.
Glossary
- Point: one of the 24 triangles. A point is made when two or more of one player’s checkers stand on it.
- Blot: a single checker alone on a point, which can be hit.
- Bar: the middle strip where hit checkers wait to re-enter.
- Home board: your last six points (1 to 6), where you bear off from. The other six on your side are your outer board.
- Midpoint: your 13-point, where five checkers start.
- Bar point: your 7-point, just outside your home board.
- Anchor: a point you hold in your opponent’s home board.
- Prime: several made points in a row. Six in a row can’t be passed.
- Pip count: the total number of points your checkers still have to move. Both players start at 167.
- Shot: a roll that would hit a blot. A direct shot is within six points.
- Dance: failing to enter a checker from the bar.
- Bear off: remove checkers from the board at the end of the race.
- Gammon / backgammon: a win worth 2 or 3 points (see Scoring).
Play it now
Open Backgammon to try these rules with a friend on one device or against the computer on Easy, Medium or Hard. The game only offers legal moves, so it is a good way to check the rules as you learn them. When you know how the pieces move, the beginner backgammon tutorial explains opening moves, game plans and safe play.
