Help

How to use this backgammon game, what the coach does, and what to try if something does not work. New to backgammon itself? Start with Learn backgammon. No technical knowledge needed.

How to play

1. Choose who you are playing under Opponent: Two players shares one screen, Computer plays against you (the game starts in this mode, and you play the white checkers). Strength runs from 1 (often makes mistakes) to 10 (always plays its best, and plays a good game).
2. A new game begins with Roll to start: each side rolls one die, and the higher roll goes first and plays both numbers.
3. On your turn press Roll dice. The two dice appear under the board.
4. Click (or tap) one of your checkers. A gold bar marks every checker you could move. The places it can go show a dark circle with the number of the die that gets it there. Click a circle to move. Click the same checker again, or press Escape, to change your mind.
5. When your dice are all used, press Done. If you made a slip before that, Undo move takes your last move back.
6. If you cannot move at all, the game tells you why and you press Continue.
7. A hit checker goes to the bar (the middle column). You must bring it back in before anything else moves: click it, then the entry point.
8. When all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, click a checker and then your bear-off tray (the right-hand column) to take it off.

The score for this visit (wins and, in brackets, points: 1 for a game, 2 for a gammon, 3 for a backgammon) is kept until you close or reload the page. There is no doubling cube.

The learning aids

• Gold marks and numbered circles show only moves the rules allow, including the rule that you must use as many dice as you can. Click a checker that cannot move and the game explains why in plain English.
• Hint suggests a play for the dice you have rolled and says why: it makes a point, hits a blot, leaves a blot with how many rolls hit it, runs a back checker, and so on. On the first move of the game it gives the standard opening play. The suggested checkers and points are outlined in gold.
• Coach my moves compares what you played with the computer's choice when you press Done, in the Coach box below the dice. It is a guide, not a verdict: backgammon often has more than one sensible play.
• Show danger puts a red number on each of your lone checkers: how many of the 36 possible rolls would let your opponent hit it.
• Pip counts show how many steps each side still has to travel. Lower is better.
• Start from offers practice positions that teach one idea at a time: coming in from the bar, hitting a blot, bringing checkers home and bearing off.

Using the keyboard

The board is a single stop in the Tab order. Press Tab once to reach it, then use the arrow keys to move between the checkers you can play and, once you have chosen one, the places it can go. Press Enter or Space to choose a checker or make the move, and Escape to cancel. The letters work from anywhere on the page: R rolls, D finishes your turn, U undoes a move and H asks for a hint. Every action is announced to screen readers.

If something does not work

• Nothing happens when I click. Reload the page (hold Shift while you press reload). The game needs JavaScript switched on. If it still does not respond, tell us which browser you use and we will look into it.
• I rolled but cannot click a checker. Look at the line under the status: it says why. Most often a checker is on the bar and must come in first, or a die has been used.
• The computer is slow to move. It pauses between moves on purpose so you can follow what it is doing.
• I cannot beat the computer. Choose a lower strength, switch on the coach and the hint button, and try the practice positions.

How the site is looked after

This is a MediaWright site. The game runs entirely in your browser: it stores only your choices (opponent, strength and the learning aids) on your own device, uses no cookies and has no adverts or trackers. The only outside service it uses is Google Fonts for the lettering.

Every change to the site is tested before it goes live, and each one is recorded, with its build number, on the site updates page. If you find a security problem, please follow the security policy.

For the team

The technical details are in the project README: how to build the site (npm run build), how to test it (npm test for the rules and build checks, npm run test:e2e for a real browser, including the accessibility scan) and how changes reach the live site (a pull request, checked automatically, then merged into main). Adding ?seed=7 to the address makes the dice repeatable and ?fast removes the computer's pauses; the tests use both.