Download Backgammon Rules

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Orson Hardwick

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Jan 25, 2024, 6:53:55 AM1/25/24

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Basic Rules

Introduction
- What is backgammon?
- What equipment do I need to play?
- How do you set up the board?
- Who goes first?
- What is the object of the game?
- What is a gammon? A backgammon?
- Where can I get complete rules?
Parts of the Board
- What is the bar?
- What are the inner and outer tables?
- What is the mid-point?
- What is the bar-point?
- What is the ace-point?
Moving the Checkers
- Can I pass when it's my turn?
- Can I play one number in such a way as to avoid playing the other?
- What if I can only play one number?
- Is hit-and-run allowed (also known as "pick and pass")?
- Is it ok to have more than five checkers on a point?
- Can I play low number first when bearing off?
- Is stalemate possible in backgammon?
Common Terms
- What is a blot?
- What is the bar?
- What does it mean to make a point?
- What is a prime?
- What is my home board?
- What is a closed board?
The Doubling Cube
- What is a doubling cube?
- How do you use a doubling cube?
- Can I double if I am on the bar and closed out?
- What is an automatic double?
- What is the Jacoby rule?
- What are beavers?
Procedure and Etiquette
- How should I roll the dice?
- What are cocked dice?
- Is there a touch-move rule in backgammon?
- When is my turn over?
- What if I make an illegal move?
Backgammon Notation
- What is the 24-point numbering system?
- How do you represent moves?
- What does a game transcript look like?
- What do the asterisks mean?
- What do the parentheses mean?

Backgammon is a game of odds and calculation, but it's also a game of patterns and vision. Because it is played with dice, many people think of backgammon as a gambling game. Backgammon is often played for money, but it is certainly not a game of luck. There is a surprising amount of skill in the game. Backgammon is an easy game to learn. It's fast-actioned, and fun to play either face-to-face on a real board or over the Internet. You will spend many enjoyable years learning and improving at this game. "Backgammon is an easy game to play, but not easy to play well." Daniel Murphy"People think the game consists primarily of mathcalculating odds and so forth. That's not true. It's essentially a game of patterns, a visual game, like chess." Paul Magriel"It's a game of skill and luck. When I win I can claim it's due to my good skill. When I lose I can claim it's due to my bad luck." David Forthoffer Q: What equipment do I need to play?

A backgammon board.
Thirty counters or checkers in two colors, fifteen of the same color for each player.
A pair of dice numbered from 1 to 6. For convenience, two pairs of dice (one pair for each player) is best.
A dice cup, for shaking and rolling the dice. Again, it is better to have two dice cups.
A doubling cube for keeping track of the stakes of the game. See WHAT IS A DOUBLING CUBE?

Q: How do you set up the board? There are two ways to set up a backgammon board, both really the same. The first illustration shows the setup when you are plaing White and your checkers move counterclockwise around the board. Red's checkers go in the opposite direction. Both players bear off to the right; you at the lower-right, your opponent at the upper-right. The second illustration shows the setup when your checkers move clockwise around the board. Red's checkers go in the opposite direction, and both players bear off to the left.Notice when you bear off to your right, your opponent will be bearing off to their left, and vice versa. Q: Who goes first?To decide who goes first, you and your opponent each roll one die. In the case of a tie, you both roll again. The player who rolls the higher number goes first. That player does not roll the dice again; they play the two numbers just rolled on their first turn.Notice that the player who goes first never has doubles on their first turn because ties on the first roll are always broken. Q: What is the object of the game?The object in backgammon is to move all of your checkers around the board into your home board and then bear them off. The first player to get all their checkers off the board is the winner. Q: What is a gammon? A backgammon?If you bear off all fifteen of your checkers before your opponent has borne off any of theirs, you win a gammon, or double game.If you bear off all fifteen of your checkers before your opponent has borne off any of theirs and they have one or more checkers in your home board or on the bar, you win a backgammon, or triple game. Q: Where can I get complete rules?The full rules of backgammon are given here.

download backgammon rules

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There are some variations of backgammon, played in the Middle East, where hit-and-run is not allowed in the player's home board. But the standard game has no such restriction. Q: Is it ok to have more than five checkers on a point?Yes, you may place as many checkers as you want on a point. Pile them one on top of another if you run out of room. There are some versions of backgammon still popular in England which allow no more than five checkers on a point (see Old English backgammon), but these are not standard rules. Q: Can I play low number first when bearing off?Yes, you may play your numbers in either order, as long as each number is played legally. Using your low number first can sometimes get you out of a sticky situation. Here are some examples: Whites rolls 4-1: If White plays 4 first, he takes the checker off the four-point and is forced to hit with the 1, leaving two blots. But if he plays the 1 first, moving from the four-point to the three-point, he can then use the 4 to remove the checker from the three-point. This wastes a pip, but it leaves no shots. Whites rolls 5-4: If White plays his 5 first, he ends up with a gap on his two-pointnot good if he rolls a 2 later. If he plays the 4 first, he fills the gap on the two-point and increases his chances of getting off in two more rolls. Q: Is stalemate possible in backgammon?Stalement is a position in which neither player can ever move again. Technically, stalemate is not possible in backgammon. Here is a rough explanation why:

To have a stalemate, each player would have to be blocking the other. Perhaps they each have prime in front of the other player's checkers.
Both players cannot hold their primes forever unless they are stuck on the bar.
If the players are both on the bar, one of them will eventually reenter unless both players are closed out.
So the only possibility for stalemate is both players on the bar and both players closed out, like this:

Q: How do you use a doubling cube?At the beginning of the game, the doubling cube is placed halfway between the players, either on the bar or at the side of the board, with the number 64 face up. The 64 means that the stakes have not been doubled yet. (Most doubling cubes do not have a 1, so the number 64 is understood to represent 1.)The position of the cube, halfway between the players, indicates that both players have access to it. That is, either player can make the first double.At any point during the game, a player who thinks he has a sufficient advantage may double the stakes. He can do this only at the beginning of his turn, before he has rolled the dice.When a double is offered, the opponent may refuse the double, in which case he resigns the game and forfeits the current stakes. The current stakes is the value of the cube before the double is offered, in this case one point. If the opponent doesn't want to resign, he may accept the double, and agree to continue play at double the previous stakes. He places the cube on his side of the board with the number 2 face up. The number 2 represents the fact that the stakes are now doubled. The position of the cube means that player now owns the doubling cube and only he may make the next double.If the game later turns around and the player who owns the cube feels he now has an advantage, he may redouble the stakes to 4. His opponent may refuse and give up the current stakes (now two units) or he may accept and continue play at quadruple the initial stakes. There is no limit to the number of doubles and redoubles in a single game, except that no player may double twice in a row.At the end of the game, the loser pays the winner the value of the doubling cube in whatever units they have agreed to play for. For example, if playing for one dollar a point and the doubling cube shows 4, then the loser pays the winner four dollars. In the case of a gammon or backgammon, this amount is doubled or tripled. Q: Can I double if I am on the bar and closed out?Yes, you can double at the start of any turn. You have to be alert, though; your opponent, seeing that you can't move, may roll his dice without waiting to see what you do. Just ask him to "wait, please" as he picks up his dice while you decide whether or not to double. Q: What is an automatic double?Some people play that if the two players roll the same number on the first roll of the game, then the doubling cube is automatically turned to 2. The cube stays in the middle but now the first voluntary double of the game will be offered at 4. If the players roll the same number again, then the cube is turned up another notch, though players often agree to limit the number of automatic doubles to one per game. Q: What is the Jacoby rule?The Jacoby rule says that a gammon or backgammon does not count extra unless the cube has been turned, that is, unless a double has been offered and accepted in the present game. The purpose of the rule is to avoid long games in which one player tries for a gammon rather than double the opponent out for one point.Technically, the Jacoby rule is optional, but its use in money play is very common. The Jacoby rule is never used in match play.The Jacoby rule is named for Oswald Jacoby, coauthor of The Backgammon Book, who proposed and promoted the rule. See post by Daniel Murphy. Q: What are beavers?If one player doubles, and the opponent accepts the double and decides his position is good enough, he may immediately redouble while retaining posession of the cube. This immediate redouble without giving up the cube is called a beaver.For example, suppose the cube is in the center and there have been no doubles yet this game. Player A decides to double the stakes. B accepts the double (the cube now shows 2), then B says "beaver" and turns the cube up one more notch to 4. At this point, if A has second thoughts, he can decline the beaver and give up two points; otherwise the game continues with the cube at 4. B still owns the cube, so he can redouble again on a future turn. All of this happens during A's turn; A now rolls the dice and the game continues.Playing beavers is optional, so you should agree with your opponent beforehand whether or not you are playing this rule.