How to Play

Backgammon is a game for 2 players, played on a board consisting of 24 narrow triangles called points. The triangles alternate in color and are grouped into 4 quadrants of 6 triangles each. The quadrants are referred to as a player's home board and outer board, and the opponent's home board and outer board. The home and outer boards are separated from each other by a ridge down the center of the board called the bar.

Figure 1.  A board with the checkers in their initial position. Note that each point is numbered in the order shown for White, Black's points are in the opposite order.

The points are numbered for either player starting in that player's home board. The outermost point is the twenty-four point, which is also the opponent's one point. Each player has fifteen checkers of his own color. The initial arrangement of checkers is: two on each player's twenty-four point, five on each player's thirteen point, three on each player's eight point, and five on each player's six point.

The object of the game is to move all your checkers into your own home board and then bear them off. The first player to bear off all of their checkers wins the game.

Checker Movement

White moves first. A player throws the dice by clicking anywhere on the Backgammon board. The player who's turn it is now moves his checkers according to the numbers showing on both dice. After the first roll, the players throw dice and alternate turns. To move a checker simple click and drag a checker to a valid point according to the dice. A valid point will be indicated by a special highlighted checker according to the rules below. Always grab checkers from the bottom of the stack! Each players checkers move in opposite directions as illustrated in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2.  Direction of movement of White's checkers is illustrated. Black's checkers move in the opposite direction.

The roll of the dice indicates how many points, or pips, the player is to move his checkers. The checkers are always moved forward, to a lower-numbered point. The following rules apply:

1. A checker may be moved only to an open point, one that is not occupied by two or more opposing checkers.

2. The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. For example, if a player rolls 5 and 3, he may move one checker five spaces to an open point and another checker three spaces to an open point (as illustrated by the arrows in the top of Figure 3), or he may move the one checker a total of eight spaces to an open point, but only if the intermediate point (either three or five spaces from the starting point) is also open (as illustrated by the arrows in the bottom of Figure 3).

   Figure 3.  Two ways that White can play a roll of    .

3. A player who rolls doubles plays the numbers shown on the dice twice. A roll of 6 and 6 means that the player has four sixes to use, and he may move any combination of checkers he feels appropriate to complete this requirement. The extra "double" dice will be shown on the board automatically. Remember that Backgammon is played with 2 dice, the extra "double" dice are only displayed to help you keep track of your moves.

4. A player must use both numbers of a roll if this is legally possible (or all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be played, the player must play that number. Or if either number can be played but not both, the player must play the larger one. When neither number can be used, the player loses his turn. In the case of doubles, when all four numbers cannot be played, the player must play as many numbers as he can. Note that the TrayGames version of Backgammon does not enforce this rule because of the "pass" option but both players should follow it, passing only when there is no legal move available to make.

5. If a player has a checker on the bar then that checker must be entered before he can move any other checker. See the "Hitting and Entering" section below for more details.

6. There is no doubling cube. (Old English rule)

7. You may play the first number of a roll in such a way that the second number cannot be played. (Old English rule)

Hitting and Entering

A point occupied by a single checker of either color is called a blot. If an opposing checker lands on a blot, the blot is hit and placed on the bar. Any time a player has one or more checkers on the bar, his first obligation is to enter those checker(s) into the opposing home board. A checker is entered by moving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numbers on the rolled dice. For example, if a player rolls 4 and 6, he may enter a checker onto either the opponent's four point or six point, so long as the prospective point is not occupied by two or more of the opponent's checkers.

Figure 4.  If White rolls with a checker on the bar, he must enter the checker onto Black's four point since Black's six point is not open.

If neither of the points is open, the player loses his turn. If a player is able to enter some but not all of his checkers, he must enter as many as he can and then forfeit the remainder of his turn. A player may pass their turn by clicking on any unused die. After the last of a player's checkers has been entered, any unused numbers on the dice must be played, by moving either the checker that was entered or a different checker.

Bearing Off

Once a player has moved all of his fifteen checkers into his home board, he may begin bearing off. A player bears off a checker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on which the checker resides, and then removing that checker from the board. Thus, rolling a 6-3 permits the player to remove a checker from the six point and the 3 point, as shown below.

Figure 5.  White rolls and bears off two checkers.

If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, the player must make a legal move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. If there are no checkers on higher-numbered points, the player is permitted (and required) to remove a checker from the highest point on which one of his checkers resides. Below White has two checkers on the five point and two checkers on the three point. If he roll 6-4, the 6 must be played by bearing off one checker from the five point. White cannot now use the 4 to bear a checker off the three point because he still has a checker on the five point and the full number must be used whenever possible. Therefore, the 4 must be used to move a checker from the five point to the one point.

Figure 6.  White rolls and bears off only one checker.

A player must have all of his active checkers in his home board in order to bear-off. If a checker is hit during the bear-off process, the player must bring that checker back to his home board before continuing to bear-off. A player is under no obligation to bear-off if he can make an otherwise legal move. The first player to bear-off all fifteen checkers wins the game.

Gammon and backgammon

If you bear-off all fifteen of your checkers before your opponent has borne off any of theirs, you win a gammon, or double game. If you bear-off all fifteen of your checkers before your opponent has borne off any of theirs and they have one or more checkers in your home board or on the bar, you win a backgammon, or triple game.

Don't worry if you don't think you can remember all of the rules. TrayGames Backgammon uses visual cues and a status bar to help you make valid moves and give you tips along the way!