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The object of the game of Backgammon is to move 15 checkers across the backgammon board - before your opponent does - by rolling a pair of dice. Note that the first stage of this process is to get all the checkers into your home board and then remove them according to the dice score (bearing off). When one considers the layout of the board, it’s a really simple design. There are 30 checkers that are used (an equal number of black and white checkers are used). These checkers must be moved along to the bottom right-hand side of the board. When discussing points on the board, it is important to bear in mind that there are 24 points. The bottom right-hand side of the board is number 1 for oneself and number 24 for one’s opponent. And the player's ‘home board’ is indeed the bottom right corner quarter of his/her board. The upper right-hand side of the board is named the ‘outer board.’ Note that 2 dice are used and this determines the movement of the Backgammon checkers. During the game, players move their checkers from point to point, until they reach their home-board and can take the checkers off of the board. Rack ‘em, and stack em Once the player to start the game has been decided (by casting the dice and seeing who has the higher score), the game begins in earnest. The number reflected on the dice represents the number of permissible moves. Say a 5 and 3 are rolled. This means either one checker can move 8 places or two checkers can move a combined for 8 places, in 2 separate movements. Next up the opposition rolls and does the same. Some important Backgammon rules to remember: - A checker can’t move to a point containing more than 1 of the opponent’s checkers.
- If a player rolls a double (the same number) then that number is played 4 separate times with any checker.
- Both of the dice scores must be played out. If however only 1 can be played then the player does this. If none of the moves can be made, then the opponent continues.
- Bearing off occurs when all of the checkers are safely inside a player's home-board. This is the stage when a player starts to take checkers out of the board. Bearing off is completed with all the regular Backgammon rules. Thus the player rolls the dice and removes his/her checkers.
Naturally as one might expect from such an exciting game, there are many more complex rules which exist. The goal however is to provide a basic insight into the most fundamental Backgammon rules. For an ancient game, it sure is very much alive and well! |
