About Backgammon
Backgammon is the oldest race game still played everywhere, and every rule of the race is here: blots and hitting, entering from the bar, doubles played four times, the duty to use both dice when you can, and bearing off from the home board. There is no doubling cube and nothing is wagered. Play a robot at Easy, Normal or Hard, a friend on the same phone, or a friend online; the server rolls the dice and checks every move.
How to play Backgammon
- Roll two dice and move your checkers that many points towards your home board, one checker per die or one checker for both. Doubles are played four times.
- A point with two or more enemy checkers is blocked. A single checker (a blot) is hit when you land on it and must re-enter from the bar before anything else moves.
- Once all fifteen checkers are in your home board you bear them off; the first to bear off all fifteen wins. There is no doubling cube.
- Roll, tap a checker’s point, then tap where it goes; the tray takes a checker off. Results are saved on this device.
Tips & strategy
- Make points, especially the ones in your home board and the bar point: two checkers together cannot be hit and block the way.
- A lone checker within six points of an enemy checker is in direct danger. Leave blots where they are hardest to hit, or not at all.
- Count the pips. When you are ahead in the race, avoid contact and run; when behind, hold a point in the enemy home board and wait for a shot.
- Doubles are a gift: four moves at once can make two points or bring checkers home in one go.
Backgammon: questions and answers
Do I have to use both dice?
Yes, when any legal way to play both exists. If only one die can be played, you must play the larger one if you can. The page only offers moves that follow these rules.
What happens when my checker is hit?
It goes to the bar and must re-enter in the other player’s home board on a point that is not blocked before you may move anything else.
When can I bear off?
Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board. A die bears off a checker that exact distance away, or a checker further in if nothing sits further out.
Is there a doubling cube?
No. Games are played for the win alone; a gammon or backgammon is named in the result but changes nothing.