How to play backgammon

The goal

Backgammon is a two-player race game. Each side has 15 checkers and must bring them all around the board and off it. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins. Dice decide how far you can move on each turn; your choices decide how well you use them.

Setup

Each side has 15 checkers. The starting position (shown below) is the same for every game: 2 checkers on your 24-point, 5 on your 13-point, 3 on your 8-point, and 5 on your 6-point.

Dice

Each turn you roll two dice and move that many pips in total. Rolling doubles (e.g. 4-4) gives you four moves of that number instead of two.

Moving

Checkers move in one direction only, from your 24-point toward your 1-point. You may move one checker the full roll, or split the two dice between two different checkers.

Blocked points and entering from the bar

You cannot land on a point where your opponent has two or more checkers: that point is blocked. Several blocked points in a row, called a prime, are one of the strongest ways to trap an opponent. You must play both dice whenever you legally can, and a die with no legal move is simply lost. A checker on the bar enters with a single die: a 1 enters on your 24-point, a 2 on your 23-point, and so on up to a 6 on your 19-point, unless your opponent holds that point.

Hitting and the bar

A point held by two or more of your own checkers is safe. A single checker of yours on a point (a blot) can be hit by an opposing checker landing on it, which sends it to the bar. A checker on the bar must re-enter the board before you may make any other move.

Bearing off

Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you may start bearing them off — removing them from the board using your roll. The first side to bear off all 15 checkers wins.

Gammons and backgammons

If the loser has not borne off a single checker, the winner scores a gammon (double). If the loser still has a checker in the winner's home board or on the bar, it is a backgammon (triple).

Matches and the doubling cube

You can play a single game (a 1-point match) or a match to 3, 5 or 7 points. Each game you win scores 1 point, 2 for a gammon and 3 for a backgammon, multiplied by the doubling cube; gammons always count. In a match longer than 1 point you may offer to double the stakes before you roll. Your opponent either takes — the game goes on at twice the value and they own the cube, so only they can double next — or passes and loses the game at its current value. A 1-point match is played without the cube.

The Crawford rule

When a player first gets within one point of winning the match, the next game is played without doubling. From the game after that, doubling is allowed again.

Five beginner tips

1. Make points early. Two or more checkers on a point are safe and block your opponent. Points in your home board, especially your 6-point, 5-point and bar point (the 7-point), are worth the most.
2. Leave as few blots as you can, especially where an opposing checker can reach them. A hit costs you the pips you already travelled and gives your opponent the initiative.
3. Count your pips. The pip count is the total distance all your checkers still have to travel. Once the two sides can no longer hit each other, the player with the lower count is ahead in the race.
4. Hit with a plan. Sending an opposing checker to the bar costs them pips and a turn spent entering, but a lone hitter can be hit right back. Prefer hits that also make a point or leave little risk.
5. Respect the doubling cube. Offer a double only when you are clearly ahead, and take a double only if you expect to win roughly one game in four or better. A 1-point match has no cube.