Backgammon

Overview

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games still played in its recognizable form, combining a race to move all your checkers around the board with genuine strategic decisions about which risks to take. Two dice govern how far you can move each turn, but the way you use those numbers — which checkers to advance, when to leave a piece exposed, when to play safe — separates strong players from weak ones far more than luck alone would suggest.

Archaeological finds in the region of modern-day Iran and Iraq show race games with similar boards dating back roughly five thousand years, making backgammon a strong candidate for the oldest board game still played today in close to its ancient form. It reached its current rules, including the doubling cube used for raising the stakes of a match, in the early 20th century.

What You Need

You need a backgammon board divided into 24 long triangular points grouped into four quadrants, 15 checkers per player in two contrasting colors, a pair of six-sided dice for each player, and a doubling cube marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 for tracking stakes in match play.

Setup

Each player sets up 15 checkers in a mirrored starting arrangement: two checkers on their 24-point, five on their 13-point, three on their 8-point, and five on their 6-point (numbering the points from each player's own perspective, starting at their far corner). Players sit across from each other, and each rolls one die to see who moves first, using both dice values shown to make that first move.

How to Play

On your turn, roll two dice and move your checkers according to the numbers shown, always moving in the direction from your own starting quadrant toward your home board on the far side. Each die represents a separate move, and the numbers can be used to move one checker twice or two different checkers once each. If you roll doubles, you get to play that number four times instead of two. A point occupied by two or more of your checkers is safe; a point held by a single checker (called a "blot") can be captured by an opposing checker landing on it, sending it to the bar and forcing it to re-enter play from the beginning of the board. Once all fifteen of your checkers reach your home board, you may begin "bearing off," removing them from the board entirely according to the dice rolls.

How to Win

The first player to bear all fifteen of their checkers off the board wins the game. If the losing player has not borne off any checkers, the win counts double (a "gammon"); if the loser still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, it counts triple (a "backgammon"). In match play, the doubling cube can multiply the value of the game further if a player offers, and their opponent accepts, a double at any point.

Tips

• Avoid leaving blots in your opponent's home board, where a hit sends you all the way back.
• Build points in your own home board early to make bearing off, and blocking, easier.
• Balance racing for position against building a defensive wall of occupied points.
• Use the doubling cube to pressure an opponent when the position clearly favors you.
• Count the pips (total distance remaining) periodically to judge whether you're ahead in the race.

Common Mistakes

• Leaving multiple blots scattered across the board at once.
• Bearing off carelessly and leaving an avoidable blot exposed near the end.
• Ignoring the doubling cube entirely instead of using it as a strategic tool.
• Failing to use both dice values when a legal move exists to use both.

Variations

Nackgammon adjusts the starting position slightly to reduce very short opening exchanges. Hypergammon is played with only three checkers per player for a faster, higher-variance game. Acey-deucey, popular in the U.S. Navy, changes the starting position to an empty board with checkers entered one at a time, and gives a special bonus roll when a player throws a 1 and a 2.

Frequently Asked Questions

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