LET'S PLAY
BACKGAMMON
Backgammon isn’t just a game, it’s a centuries-long rivalry between luck and strategy, wrapped in leatherette and rattling with the sound of dice cups. One part race, one part sabotage, and all parts addictive. Here is where you learn to play.
Object
Be the first to move all 15 of your checkers off the board and into your home.
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To do this, you must move all 15 of them into your home board and then “bear off” (remove) each piece based on the roll of the dice.
What You Need
2 players
A backgammon board, showing 24 narrow triangles called points or Tigers Teeth (copyright pending), divided into four quadrants, six teeth in each quadrant.
15 checkers per player (Light vs. Dark)
2 six-sided dice (4 if you want to give each player a set, which you should)
Optional:
A doubling cube (marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64)
Dice cups (for style)
Watch the step by step guide here!
Set Up
The board set up is mirrored and each player places:
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2 checkers on their 24 tiger's tooth
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5 on the 13 tooth
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3 on the 8 tooth
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5 on the 6 tooth
(just follow the picture!)
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Light will move counter clockwise toward their home (on their right hand corner). Dark will move clockwise toward their home (on their left hand corner).
Who Goes First
Decide who goes first by each rolling one die. Highest number starts, using both dice from initial roll. Meaning that if Dark rolls a 3 and Light rolls a 5, Light gets to go first using both the 3 & the 5. On subsequent rolls each player will roll their own 2 dice. So dark would have the next roll, rolling their two dice and moving according to the numbers that come up. If that initial starter roll was a tie, re-roll. In subsequent games the player who lost the last game gets to go first.
Direction of Play:
Light goes counter clockwise. Ending in their lower righthand corner.
Dark goes clockwise. Ending in their lower lefthand corner.
Gameplay
On your turn:
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Roll two dice.
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Move one or two checkers according to the numbers shown.
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You may split the roll between two checkers or move one checker by the total of both dice.
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Each number must be a legal move on its own. Each number must be used as a separate legal move. You can’t combine the dice into one total unless you’re moving a single checker in two steps, and both steps must be legal.
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You can land on a tooth you already occupy adding a piece or pieces to it.
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You may not land on a tooth occupied by two or more opposing checkers.
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If you land on a tooth with exactly one opposing checker, you hit it. That checker is placed on the bar (the middle division hinge of the board.
Each Move Is Seperate
Each die face must be respected as a separate valid move. So if you want to move 5 spaces using a 2-3 roll but the teeth 2 or 3 spaces away are blocked then you can't move that checker. Same goes with doubles.
Doubles Bonus
Roll doubles and you get a 2 move bonus. You can move the face values 4x (the 2 times that are shown plus 2 more times). For example with a 5 - 5 you can make five moves of five spaces.
You can split these moves across different checkers or use multiple moves for the same one, as long as each step is legal.
If you have checkers on the bar, you must re-enter them before making any other moves. Each re-entry counts as one move. If re-entry is blocked, and you cannot make all four moves, you must play as many as possible. If none are legal, you lose your turn. More on getting hit and ending up on the bar below.
Hitting
When you "hit," or land on a tooth with a lone opponents checker, unprotected piece, aka a "blot," it goes to the bar. The opponent must re-enter it, starting from their furthest tooth, before doing anything else.
So You've Been Hit
If you have a checker or checkers on the bar, you must re-enter them into the opponent’s home board starting from your furthest tooth before making any other moves. You need to roll a number that corresponds to an open tooth in that quadrant. If you can't re-enter because your rolled numbers are blocked by your opponents pieces, they you can't make any moves that turn, even if other pieces could make valid moves.
Red can't start scoring yet until they get their fifteenth checker (the one on the left) into their last set of teeth, their homeboard. Once they have all 15 in they can start to roll them into the home to score.​
Bearing Off (Scoring)
As stated the object of Backgammon is to be the first player to move all 15 their checkers off the board. This is called Bearing Off. To Bear Off a checker you must roll a number high enough to get your checker past the final tooth and into your home base. It does not have to be an exact number. Here’s the rub though, you cannot Bear Off any of your checkers until all of your checkers are on your home board, which are the final six teeth on your boards bottom right and next to your home. Like this. So you must be strategic about getting all of your checkers to your home board earlier than your opponent .
The cube starts at 1, meaning each game is worth 1 point. During the game, if you feel confident in your position, you can propose doubling the stakes. If your opponent refuses, they forfeit the game, and you win 1 point. If they accept, the game continues, but now the winner earns 2 points. Control of the cube then passes to your opponent, and only they can propose the next double. The cube can be doubled again later in the same game, escalating the stakes to 4, 8, or more, adding an exciting layer of strategy and tension to each game. Once the game ends, the cube resets to 1 for the next game, ensuring that each new match starts fresh.
If playing this way, make sure you’ve agreed on the final amount of points to win the pot.
The Doubling Cube
Want to spice up your Backgammon game? This is the Doubling Cube. This cube allows players to increase the stakes of the game.
For those of you gambling fiends, winning a game of Backgammon is worth 1 point. You can play multiple games, tallying up the total points to determine the final winner. Winner taking the pot. But why not add a bit more strategy and stakes to the mix? That’s exactly what this doubling cube does.
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Other Rules
You can’t move your checkers backward; they must always move in the direction of play for your side.
Players must use all of their rolled numbers if possible. If only one number can be played, it must be used. If only one of two numbers can be played, the higher number must be used. If no legal moves can be made, the turn ends.
If you have a checker on the bar and cannot re-enter it with a roll, including doubles, you lose the turn and cannot use any of the remaining moves from that roll.
Each die must be played as an individual number, even if you’re moving the same checker. You cannot add the dice together to bypass blocked tiger's teeth. For example, if you roll a three and a two but cannot legally move either three or two spaces, you cannot simply move five spaces with that checker, even if the fifth tooth is open. If you had rolled a four and a one instead, you could legally move to that fifth space by taking the steps separately.
All dice must be rolled on the board. If any die does not land flat or lands off the board, it must be rerolled.
When stacking checkers on a tooth, there’s no limit, you can pile them up.
During bearing off, you can remove a checker from a tiger's tooth matching the die roll or move it closer inward. You are not required to bear off if you have other legal moves, but you must use your entire roll. For instance, if you roll a six but all your checkers are within six teeth of bearing off, you must remove the furthest checker. When bearing off with doubles, all four moves must follow the same rule.
You cannot bear off a checker from a vacant tooth if you have any checkers on higher tiger's teeth. Those must be moved first.
If one of your checkers is hit during the bearing off stage, it goes to the bar, and you cannot continue bearing off until that checker has re-entered and returned to your home board.