Backgammon is a board game for two players. There is much speculation as to where the game originated from, including Egypt, Sumaria, and even Iran. There is even a version of the game that was played by the ancient Romans. Though the movement in the game is determined by a toss of a dice, it is not a game of chance alone, but a strategic game of decision making, and statistically the best player will win if enough games are held (if you know your statistics -the Law of large numbers). There are many types of backgammon each one different from the other, such as Hypergammon, Nackgammon, Longgammon, etc.

The rules:


The game is played on a board consisting of 24 triangles (points), which are separated into 4 groups. Each player has his own home board and outer board as shown by the diagram: Each point (Triangle) is numbered for both players, and the first point is in the players home board. The furthest point is the 24-point.

Each player has fifteen checkers which move between the twenty-four points according to the roll of two dice. The winner of the game is the first one to move all his/her checkers off the board (bear off). Stalemate is technically impossible in backgammon. The initial position of the game is shown in the diagram above.

To begin each game, each player rolls one die. The player to roll the highest number starts the game using the numbers on the two dice. In case of a tie, both players roll again. After the first roll, the players throw two dice and alternate turns.

After the roll, the player moves the checkers the number of points showing on each die. For instance, if he rolls a 5 and a 6, he moves one checker five points and another one six points. The same checker may be moved twice as long as the two moves are separate: five and six or six and five (but not eleven).

If a player is unable to move any checkers after rolling the dice, since all of the relevant points to which he might move are occupied by two (or more) enemy checkers, the player loses his turn. Nevertheless, a player must play both dice if it is possible. If either number can be played but not both of them, the player must play the higher number.

If a player happens to roll two of the same number (doubles) he plays each die twice. For example, if a player rolls 2 and a 2, he moves four checkers forward 2 spaces each. (Or one checker four times 2 or any other available constellation as noted earlier).

A checker may land on any unoccupied point or by one occupied by friendly checkers. It may also land on a point occupied by one (and ONLY one) of the opponent's checkers (a point with only one piece on it is called a blot), in which case the blot (the lone checker) has been hit, and is placed in the middle of the board (the bar).

A checker cannot move to a point occupied by two or more enemy checkers. If a player has one or more checkers on the bar, he cannot make any other move before re-entering the checkers into the board. Checkers re-enter the game through the opponent's home board in the following manner: If a player rolls 1, he may enter a checker onto the 24-point, rolls a 2 - the 23-point and so on. The Checkers will re-enter the game as long as the desired re-entry point is not occupied by two or more of the opponent's checkers.

If the player cannot re-enter his checkers from the bar he loses his turn. After all the player's checkers have been entered, any remaining number on the dice must be played.

When all 15 checkers are in the player's home board, he may remove them from the board (bear off) in the following manner: A roll of 1 is used to bear off a checker from the 1-point, a 2 from the 2-point and so on. If there is no checker on the point indicated by the die, the player has to move using a checker on a higher point. If there are no checkers on any higher point, the player has to remove a checker from the highest point in which he does have a checker on.

A checker borne off from a lower point than indicated on the die will still count as a full move. For example, if a player uses a 3 to bear off a checker from the 2-point, it counts for a full 3, and he is not required (or able) to use the remaining 1. If 23 is hit during the bear-off, the player is required to retrieve the checker to his home board before continuing the bear off.

If one player has not been able to borne off any of his checkers by the time his opponent has borne off all of them, he has lost a gammon and loses twice the value of the game. If a player has not borne off any checkers, and still has a checker on the bar or in the opponent's home board, he has lost a backgammon - which counts for triple the amount of a normal loss.

The Doubling Cube:

In the beginning of the game the players agree on a wager per point. Each game begins at one point. To speed up match play and to make things more interesting the stake of the game can be doubled using a doubling cube. A doubling cube is a 6 sided die that that has the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 on it. If a player believes that he has an advantage in the game, he may, at the beginning of his turn (before rolling the dice) double (demand that the game be played for twice the current wager). His opponent must either accept the challenge or forfeit the game. After that, the right to redouble belongs exclusively to the last player who accepted a double. The cube is used to keep track of the games current stake. For instance, after one player doubles the doubling cube is placed with the 2 side face up, after a redouble it shows 4 and so on. There is no limit on the number of doubles even though 64 is the highest number on the cube.

There are a few common optional rules:
Beavers- A player is able to immediately redouble when offered the doubling cube, while retaining the cube and not giving it back to the opponent. This causes the stakes of the game to increase swiftly.

Automatic Doubles - Any re-rolls at the start of each game (when each player rolls one die to determine who will go first) which results in a double. For instance, a 4-4 roll will cause the game to start with double the normal stakes. The doubling cube will remain in the middle, so any player is able to double at will.

Jacoby Rule - The Jacoby Rule means that gammons and backgammons (as explained earlier) will count for double and triple points only in the case that at least one doubling has occurred during the game. This will encourage the player who has a large lead in a game to double, and probably end the game instead of just waiting for the game to end in a gammon or backgammon.

There are other rules such as the Crawford rules and Holland rules that apply to matches between players consisting of more than one game; for example, the first one to reach three points.

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