Backgammon Rules |
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Whether you're playing backgammon at home with friends or you're playing at an international tournament, the rules are basically the same. Each of the two players has fifteen checkers (or men) that they are trying to take off of the board.
Backgammon is a two-player game, except in a rare variation called a chouette, in which several players join to play one opponent. Since the chouette variation has many sub-variants, but is not generally played in standard backgammon tournaments or online backgammon games, we will not discuss chouettes further.
A backgammon board looks like this:
As you can see, there are two main sections, divided by a bar. Each triangle is called a point, and it represents a place on which a man can rest. The points are like the spaces in other games such as chess. Since men move both on the near points and on the far points on each side of the bar, the board is actually divided into quarters.
The quarter of the board which is the last quarter before men can be borne off, or taken out of the game, is referred to as the home board.
While backgammon is a game of skill, there is an element of luck involved as well. Players roll dice to determine how many points they may advance. When a game begins, each player rolls a single die, and the player who rolls the higher number uses both of the rolled dice to determine his move. If the two players roll the same (which occurs 1/6 of the time), then they both re-roll. Depending upon the rules at the particular backgammon site or tournament, that situation will cause the doubling cubed to double, meaning that the game will be worth twice as much.
In general, players take turns rolling the dice, and moving their men according to the rolls of the dice. Each die is considered separate, meaning that if a player rolls 4,5, he or she can move one man four points and another five points, or he can move a single man nine points. However, since they are separate dice, the player must be able to land either on the point four away or on the point five away. If there is no landing point, then the move is illegal. While generally players are meant to move their men into their home board and to bear odd, there are certain obstacles that determine which movements are best or even possible.
- A man may not land on a point where there are two or more of the opponent's men.
- If a man lands on a point where the opponent has a man, the opponent's man is moved to the bar, and must re-enter through the opponent's home board.
- A player who has a man on the bar may not move any other man until that man is off of the bar.
- A player must use all rolls unless he or she is unable to.
- Further to rule 4, a player may not make a move which will prevent them from using all dice if a move is available which will enable the use of all dice.
- Players may not bear off unless all of their men on the board are in their home board.
Doubles:
If a player rolls two dice that are the same: 1,1; 2,2; 3,3; 4,4; 5,5; or 6,6, then they get to use double their roll. This means that if you roll 1,1, then you can move four men one each, two men two each, or any other combination.
The Doubling Cube:
The doubling cube is the funny thing that looks like one of the dice but has the wrong numbers written on it. A doubling cube has the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 printed on it. In most competitions and games, the 64 is not used.
Doubling means that the game is worth double its original value. This means that a game which was played for a dollar and is doubled will be worth two dollars. If it is doubled again, it will be worth four dollars.
When a player is offered a double, the player can choose to accept or decline the double. Declining a double means losing the game voluntarily, so always accept the double if you think you can win.
Beaver:
If your opponent offers you a double, you can immediately double back, and maintain the cube. This is called a beaver, and it is an especially good idea if you think you can still win, because you'll still be able to double again later. It's important to remember though, when you double in backgammon, often the other player will surrender rather than double, so if you have a good chance of getting a gammon or a backgammon, don't try to double.
Raccoon:
In some backgammon games, a player who doubled and received a beaver can take back the cube by immediately doubling again. This double is called a raccoon.
Gammons and Backgammons
If a player wins and the other player has not borne off any men, the game is worth double the value, and is called a gammon.
If a player wins and the other player has a man on the bar or in the winner's home board, that is referred to as a backgammon, and the game is worth three times the value of the game.
If the game was doubled, for example, the game will be worth six points if it is won in a backgammon.
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