Learn backgammon
Backgammon is a race with a fight in it. It takes five minutes to learn the rules and a lifetime to play well. Read this once, then play with the coach switched on.
The goal
Each side has 15 checkers. Bring all of yours round the board into your home board, then take them off the board (bear off). The first to bear off all 15 wins.
The board
There are 24 narrow triangles called points, 12 along the top and 12 along the bottom, split in the middle by the bar. Everyone counts the points from their own side: your home board is points 1 to 6 and you always move from high numbers to low. Against the computer the board is numbered from your (White) side. With two players on one screen the numbers switch to match whoever is to move, so "point 6" is always the mover's own 6 point.
Each side starts with: 2 checkers on the 24 point (your back checkers, furthest from home), 5 on the 13 point (the mid-point), 3 on the 8 point and 5 on the 6 point.
Moving
- Roll two dice. Each die is a separate move: a 5 and a 3 lets you move one checker 5 and one checker 3 (or one checker 5 then 3, or 3 then 5).
- You may land on an empty point, on a point with your own checkers, or on a point with just one opposing checker. You may not land on a point with two or more opposing checkers: it is blocked.
- Doubles (both dice the same) are played four times: a double 3 is four moves of 3.
- You must play as many numbers as you can. If you can only play one, you must play the larger one if you can. If you cannot move at all, you pass. This site checks all of this for you, and explains why a checker cannot move when you click it.
Hitting and the bar
A single checker alone on a point is a blot. If your opponent lands on it, it is hit and goes to the bar. While you have a checker on the bar you may not move anything else: you must roll a number that lets it back in on the opponent's home board: in your numbering a 1 enters on the 24 point, a 2 on the 23 point, and so on up to a 6 on the 19 point. The point must not be blocked. If you cannot come in, you lose your turn. Being hit costs you the ground that checker had covered, so protecting your blots matters.
Bearing off
Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board (and none on the bar), you may take them off. An exact number takes a checker from that point (a 4 takes one off the 4 point). A number bigger than your furthest checker takes that furthest checker off. A smaller number just moves a checker down inside the board. If you are hit while bearing off, you must bring that checker all the way round again before you can continue.
Winning
- A normal win scores 1 point.
- A gammon (the loser has not borne off a single checker) scores 2.
- A backgammon (the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board) scores 3.
Real games also use a doubling cube to raise the stakes. This site does not have one yet; each game is played for its single, gammon or backgammon score.
Reading the notation
Moves are written from/to in the mover's own numbering. 13/7 moves a checker from the 13 point to the 7 point. A star marks a hit: 13/7*. A number in brackets repeats a move: 8/5(2) is two checkers from the 8 point to the 5 point. bar/22 enters from the bar on the 22 point, and 3/off bears a checker off.
Five ideas that make you better fast
- Make points. Two or more checkers on a point can never be hit and block your opponent. Points in your home board are especially valuable, and the best are your 5 point (the "golden point"), then your 4, 6 and bar point (7).
- Count your shots. A blot is only in danger if the opponent can reach it. A blot 1 to 6 points in front of an opposing checker can be hit with a single number (11 rolls out of 36 or more); further away it takes both dice together. Switch on Show danger to see exactly how many of the 36 rolls hit each blot.
- Hit when it hurts them. Hitting a checker that has travelled far costs your opponent a lot; hitting one on their own back rank costs them little, and may leave you exposed. Hitting also keeps them from moving freely, because they must enter first.
- Escape your back checkers. Your two checkers on the 24 point are the hardest to bring home. Get them moving, or make an anchor: two checkers together on one of the opponent's points, safe from hits, such as the 20 point.
- Race when you are ahead. The pip count is the total number of steps each side still has to travel. If you are well ahead in the race, avoid contact and run home. If you are behind, hold points and wait for a hit.
The first move: a short book
The very first roll of a game has a well-known best play. These are the standard choices (numbers are your own points). The coach and hint button on the game page use this table for the opening move.
| Roll | Play | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 3-1 | 8/5 6/5 | Makes your 5 point, the best point to own. |
| 4-2 | 8/4 6/4 | Makes your 4 point. |
| 6-1 | 13/7 8/7 | Makes your bar point, blocking 6s. |
| 5-3 | 8/3 6/3 | Makes your 3 point. |
| 6-5 | 24/18 18/13 | "Lover's leap": one back checker runs to safety. |
| 6-4 | 24/18 18/14 | Runs a back checker (making the 2 point with 8/2 6/2 is also fine). |
| 6-3 | 24/18 13/10 | Moves a back checker up and builds. |
| 6-2 | 24/18 13/11 | Same idea. |
| 5-4 | 24/20 13/8 | Splits the back checkers and brings a builder down. |
| 5-2 | 13/11 13/8 | Brings two builders down. |
| 5-1 | 24/23 13/8 | Splits, and a safe 5. |
| 4-3 | 24/20 13/10 | Splits and builds. |
| 4-1 | 24/23 13/9 | Splits and builds. |
| 3-2 | 24/21 13/11 | Splits and builds. |
| 2-1 | 13/11 6/5 | Builds, with a slot on the 5 point. |
| 1-1 | 8/7(2) 6/5(2) | Makes your bar point and 5 point. |
| 2-2 | 13/11(2) 6/4(2) | Makes your 11 and 4 points. |
| 3-3 | 8/5(2) 6/3(2) | Makes your 5 and 3 points. |
| 4-4 | 24/20(2) 13/9(2) | Makes an anchor and a point in the outfield. |
| 5-5 | 13/8(2) 8/3(2) | Makes your 3 point from the mid-point. |
| 6-6 | 24/18(2) 13/7(2) | Makes your bar point and the opponent's bar point. |
Some rolls have more than one good play, and the computer may choose another sensible one. After the opening, no table helps: that is where the coach comes in.
Practise one idea at a time
On the game page, the Start from list has practice positions: coming in from the bar, hitting a blot, bringing checkers home and bearing off. Each starts from a small set-up with a note about what to look for.