Backgammon is one of the oldest two player board games in the world, dating back approximately 5000 years. The object of the game is to remove all of your checkers from the board before your opponent.
The backgammon board consists of 24 points and each player begins the game with 15 checkers placed at specific points on the board. For the purpose of this article we will use red and white checkers but these colors can vary between games.
Players begin by placing 2 checkers on their 24th point on the board, 3 checkers on their 8th point and 5 checkers on their 6th and 13th points. Red will move their checkers counter-clockwise on the board and white will be moving clockwise. To begin play each player will roll one of their two dice on the board to their respective right side and the dice must land flat on the board. Whoever rolls the highest dice will go first and they must use their opponents dice as their second move. It is important to mention here that after first roll each player will roll two dice and each dice is viewed as an individual move and not the total of the two. Lets say for example you roll a six and a four, you can move one checker six points and another four points. If doubles are rolled the player will move the respective number four times. So if double fours were rolled then the player will move four checkers four points or any other relative combination.
When moving on the board you cannot land on any point occupied by your opponent if they have two or more checkers on that point. Any empty spot can be landed on as well as any spot your opponent has occupied with only one checker. In this situation your opponents checker is removed from the board and placed on the bar. If you have a checker on the bar when it is your turn to roll you must put your checker back into play on your opponents home board before you can make any other move. For example if you were to roll a two and a three and your opponent had two checkers on each of these areas of his home board you would be unable to move and that would end your turn.
When all your checkers are in your home board area you may begin to remove them from the board, this is called bearing off, but not before all checkers are in this area. When bearing off a roll of one will move a checker on one of the board and a two off two or three off three and so on. If you were to roll a six and a four but there was no six on the board you could remove a five and a four from the board. This can be done when bearing off but only if all higher numbers have been removed first. If the losing player has not removed any of his checkers from the board by time his opponent has cleared the board then he has lost a gammon which is double a normal loss. If the losing player still has checkers on the bar when the opponent clears off the board, he has lost a backgammon which is triple a normal loss.
There are several strategies that can be used in the game of Backgammon and they include a priming game which is when you set up two or more consecutive points on the board with two checkers and block your opponents moves, this is called a prime. A six point prime will stop your opponent from making any move because with six being the highest number on a die they would be unable to move. A back-game is a strategy generally used when you are behind in the game and it involves setting up two or more anchors on the opponents home board while building primes on your home board. This increases your ability to hit your opponent as they move home. This strategy rarely works as an initial game plan. Duplication refers to setting up your checkers in such a way that your opponent would need to roll the same number to accomplish different goals. It actually reduces your chance of being hit more than once in any move by your opponent. Diversification is a tactic used to increase the moves you can make by placing your checkers on the board in such a way that you have more options with your rolls.
There are several variations to the game and how it is played but the strategies are basically the same. There are many clubs and tournaments set up for Backgammon enthusiasts and with online Backgammon you will find places to learn and practice the game before you begin to play for money.
In a money game, to speed up the match a doubling cube is usually used. The doubling cube is a marker with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 marked on its sides, representing the current stake. At the start of a game, the doubling cube is centered on the bar with the number 64 upright. When the cube is centered, at any time a player rolling the die may propose that the game be played for double the current stakes. The opponent must then either accept the doubled wager or forfeit the game immediately. If the opponent accepts the proposal, the cube is moved to the opponent’s side of the board with the 2 up showing the double wager was accepted. At this point the player with the cube now has the right to re-double should he want to. If a player drops the doubled stakes, he will lose the game and his wager at the value on the doubling cube. If the cube shows a number 2 the player would lose twice his original wager or a number 4 would mean four times the wager and so on. There is no limit to the number of times a game can be doubled but unless you are a professional gambler you will not likely see it doubled more than two or three times.
Backgammon is a fantastic game of luck and strategy that will provide hours of fun for anyone. The Backgammon sites you can access on this page are the best on the internet where you will find training, free games, money games, tournaments and much more.
