Backgammon is a game for two on a board of twenty-four points, in which each player moves their checkers home and bears them off while preventing the opponent from doing the same. What sets it apart from Long Narde is, above all, hitting.
What you need
Two players. Fifteen checkers each in one’s own colour, and each player has their own pair of dice and a cup for shaking. The board is divided down the middle by a ridge — the bar, which also separates the home board from the outer board.
Who moves first
The opening move is decided by each player throwing a single die. If the numbers come up equal, both roll again until they differ. After that the players alternate, throwing both dice each turn.
How checkers move
The numbers rolled are two moves. A player may take one checker by the sum of the numbers, or two different checkers by each number separately. Both numbers must be played if that is possible; if neither can be played, the rest of the turn is forfeited.
The opponents travel in opposite directions: white checkers move counterclockwise and black checkers clockwise, each towards their own home board.
A point counts as held when two checkers of one colour stand on it: the opponent may not move there.
Hitting and the bar
A point holding exactly one opposing checker may be taken — such a checker is called a blot. Whoever moves onto it hits the blot, and the checker that was hit goes to the bar.
While a checker sits on the bar no other move may be made: it has to enter the board first. A checker that has entered starts its journey afresh and must travel all the way around the board back to its own home board.
Bearing off
Bearing off begins once all of a player’s checkers have reached home: a checker is taken off the board by the number rolled. If no checker can be borne off, the player must make another legal move inside the home board.
The first player to take every checker off the board wins.
How points are scored
Each game starts at one point, and the price then depends on how heavily the loser lost.
- A plain win — one point: the loser bore off at least one checker.
- A gammon — two points: the loser bore off no checker at all.
- A backgammon — three points: the loser bore off nothing and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner’s home board.
The result of the game is multiplied by the value of the doubling cube.
The doubling cube
The doubling cube belongs to play for points: it lets the stakes rise during a game. At the start the cube lies halfway between the players with the number 64 face up.
A player who thinks their position is good enough may offer a double — but only on their own turn and before throwing the dice. The opponent either accepts, and the game continues at twice the stakes, or refuses, conceding the game and paying one point. Whoever accepts becomes the owner of the cube: only they may offer the next double in that game.
The Crawford rule. When one player comes within a single point of winning the match, the following game is played without the cube. After it the cube is back in play.
The Jacoby rule applies to money play and never to match play: a gammon or a backgammon does not count for more than a plain win unless the cube has been turned in that game.