Backgammon Rules and Basic Strategy

The board and the setup

The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, in four groups of six. Your home board is the six points you are heading toward; the opponent's home board is at the other end. The bar runs down the middle. Each side starts with fifteen checkers: two on the opponent's 1-point (your 24-point), five on your 13-point (the mid-point), three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. The two sides' checkers move in opposite directions, each toward its own home board.

Moving

Roll two dice. Move one checker by each die, or one checker by both (it must be able to land on the intermediate point). Doubles are played four times. You must use both dice if any legal way exists; if only one can be used, use the larger if possible. The board only offers legal moves, so you cannot break these rules by accident.

A checker may land on any point that is empty, holds your own checkers, or holds exactly one enemy checker (a blot). It may not land on a point with two or more enemy checkers: that point is blocked.

Hitting and the bar

Landing on a blot hits it: the enemy checker goes to the bar. A player with a checker on the bar must enter it into the opponent's home board (counting from the far end: a roll of 3 enters on the opponent's 3-point) before moving anything else. If the needed points are all blocked, the player loses the turn. Six blocked points in the opponent's home board (a closed board) mean the checker on the bar cannot enter at all until a point opens.

Bearing off

Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you bear them off: a die removes a checker from the point of that number. If no checker sits on that point, you must move a checker from a higher point; if no checker is on a higher point either, you bear off from the highest occupied point. The first player to bear off all fifteen wins. If the loser has not borne off any checkers it is a gammon; if the loser also has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, a backgammon. Here they are named in the result but change nothing, since nothing is wagered.

Strategy: three ideas

Make points. Two checkers on a point are safe and block the opponent. The most valuable points are in your home board (especially the 5-point and 4-point) and the bar point (your 7-point), because together they build a wall the opponent's back checkers cannot pass.

Mind your blots. A blot within direct range (six points or fewer in front of an enemy checker) is hit about one time in three per roll, more if several enemy checkers bear on it. Leave blots where they are hardest to hit, far from enemy checkers or in places where being hit costs little (early, far from home).

Count the race. Add up the pips each side needs to bring every checker home and off (the pip count). If you are well ahead and contact can be broken, run: avoid hitting, avoid blots, and race. If you are behind, hold a point in the opponent's home board (an anchor) and wait for a shot at a blot as they bring checkers home.

Doubles

Doubles let you move four times, which can make two points at once (a roll of 3-3 from the start: two checkers from the 8-point to the 5-point and two from the 6-point to the 3-point) or bring several checkers home in one go. They are also dangerous when you are stuck: with few legal moves you may be forced to break points.

Common mistakes

1. Leaving unnecessary blots in range of enemy checkers.
2. Running the back checkers too early, before they can get safely past.
3. Stacking six or more checkers on one point; they do nothing there.
4. Hitting loose (hitting and leaving your own blot) when you are ahead in the race.
5. Forgetting the bar. A checker on the bar freezes your whole army until it enters.

Glossary

• Point: one of the 24 triangles.
• Blot: a single checker, which can be hit.
• Bar: the middle strip where hit checkers wait to re-enter.
• Anchor: a point you hold in the opponent's home board.
• Pip count: the total distance all your checkers still have to travel.
• Bearing off: removing checkers from your home board at the end.