Rules & Strategies - Backgammon

Backgammon is a board game for two players. The board layout consists of 24 narrow triangles called points. The points alternate in color and are arranged in two lines of 12 points each. A ridge, called the bar, separates the board to two halves, creating four groups of 6 points. One half of the board with two 6-point lines against each other is called Home Board and another one Outer Board.

Points are numbered differently for each player. The point one for each player is the outside corner of Home half that is located closer to the player. For example, if the Home Board is located to the player's right, his point number one will be the first point from the right at the line that is closer to him. Another player does the same, sitting at the opposite side of the table, so the point one of one player is the point twenty-four of another one.

The checkers are set in the flowing manner: Each player places 5 checkers at the point 6, 3 checkers at the point 8, 5 checkers at the point 13 and 2 checkers at the point 24. As far as the points of another player are numbered in the opposite direction, each stack of the players checkers will have an equal stack of the opponent's checkers in the same row on the opposite side of the board.

Each player uses his own pair of dice to determine the number of points he can use his checkers. Dice are shaken in a dice cup, and a doubling cube is used to keep track of the current stake of the game. The doubling cube is die-shaped cube with numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 on its faces.

The object of Backgammon is to move all checkers to the home board and then bear them off. The first player who succeeds to bear all his checkers wins the game. Players can move their checkers only from points with higher numbers to points with lower ones, so they will play in the opposite directions.

To start the game players throw a single die, and the player who rolls a higher number makes the first move, where the numbers that have been rolled on the first roll determine the number of points to move. All further moves of the game are determined by both dice. A player can move up to two checkers in one move. The number of points to move each one of them is determined a separate die. As was mentioned before, checkers can be moved only forward (from higher points to the lower ones), and can not land on a point where more that one opponent's checker is located.

If a player rolls a double, he moves he plays the numbers he has rolled twice. For example, if a player rolls double 6, he can make 4 moves of 6 points each. Backgammon players can not pass. They must use all the numbers they roll as long as it is possible. If there are no legal moves with the rolled combination of dice, the player skips his turn.

A point with only one checker on it is called a blot. If a player lands his checker on the opponent's blot, the opponent's checker is hit and is paced on the bar. With one or more checkers on the bar, a player must enter them back into the game as soon as possible. This is done like a regular move that starts form the point next to twenty-four. For, example, if a player has a checker on the bar and rolls 3 and 5 on his next move he must place his barred checker on the point twenty-two or point twenty, unless both of these points are occupied by more than one opponent's checker. A player can not move any other checkers if he has one or more checkers on the bar.

When all checkers of a player are on the Home Board, the player starts to bear them off. This is done by rolling two dice. Each dice indicates a point, from which a checker will be born off. For example, if a player rolls 3 and 5 he bears checkers at points 3 and 5. If there are no checkers at one of these points, he can use this number to move checkers from a higher point to a lower one. If a player bears off all his fifteen checkers before his opponent does it, the player wins.

Backgammon is a gambling game and is played for money. Players agree on the size of the bet in the beginning of the game. Then, during the game, one of the players may propose to double the stakes. If his opponent refuses to do so, he concedes the game and loses the bet in play, otherwise, the bets are doubled and the game continues. The player who was offered to double the stakes and agreed can offer to re-double the stakes later in the game, but the player who was the last to propose doubling can not propose it again.

If one of the players wins and the other one has born neither of his checkers, such situation is called gammon and the losing player must pay double the bet in the game. If the losing player not only has not born any of his checkers, also has a checker on the winner's side of the Home Board or on the bar, this is called backgammon, and a loser pays three times the bet in play.

Basic Backgammon Strategies
Here are three main backgammon strategies you can use all together or one by one depending on the situation. These strategies are known as the running strategy, the blocking strategy and the back strategy. Any or a mixture of these strategies can be used depending on the situation and the preferences of the player.

The Running Strategy
The running game is an offensive strategy based on moving your checkers forward as fast as possible, avoiding blots. This strategy is simply, but it is effective only when the player rolls big numbers, and therefore its effectiveness depends mainly on luck.

However, the main points to keep in mind when using a running strategy are:

• To avoid leaving blots
• To move all checkers gradually without leaving some of the checkers at the same place for long, especially if they are in the home board of the opponent.

The Blocking Strategy
The blocking strategy is defensive. Its main purpose is to not let the opponent move his checkers to his home board. This is done by building a prime, which consists of six occupied points one after another without blots among them. The most important thing about this prime is that it must be built at a position, which is advantageous for the player, so the checkers needed to build it can reach the home board before the blocked checkers of the opponent. The ideal location for this prime is between points 8 and 3 inclusive. Such prime does not let the opponent to get out of the player's home board and keeps the checkers of the player close to their destination. It is better to start building a prime starting at your point 5 and proceed to other points. However, building a prime normally means leaving blots at the early stage of the game, and this means certain risk.

The Back Strategy
The back strategy is based on letting the opponent hit your blots and trying to hit the opponent at his home board. This strategy is useful when the opponent has a significant advantage. Re-entering the board at the opponent's home half is disadvantageous for you, but hitting the opponent's checkers that already are at his home board is more disadvantageous for the opponent.

The Opening Roll
When the game only starts and you do not even know what strategy you are going to implement, it still can be useful to set your checkers in a certain way that will serve well for all strategies. There are certain strategic points in Backgammon , and these points should better be occupied as soon as possible. These points are your point 5 and your point 4. The perfect starting strategy is to occupy your point 4 and point 5 and occupy the same points at the opponent's side to not let him block them before you. Below, there is a number of good first rolls:

• 3-1
  You move a checker from point 6 to point 5 and another one from point 8 to point 5, occupying the point 5 and not leaving any blunts.
• 1-1
  Move 2 checkers from point 6 to point 5 and two checkers from point 8 to point 7, leaving a blunt at point 8, but occupying points 5, 6 and 7.
• 4-4
  Move two checkers from your opponent's point 1 to your opponent's point 4 and two other checkers from your opponent's point 12 to your point 9.
• 6-6
  Move two back checkers to your opponent's point 7 and two checkers from the opponent's point 12 to your point 7.
• 2-2
  Two checkers from your point 6 to your point 4 and two checkers from your opponent's point 12 to your point 11.
• 6-1
  One checker from the opponents point 12 to your point 7 and one counter from your point 8 to your point 7.

The most logical approach is to run as fast as you can to the end point while leaving exposed checkers, but putting all your focus on a fast game maybe sounds reasonable, but it's not a winning game plan. Instead, there are better gaming strategies that you can take, and the results will be a lot better.

Wise distribution of checkers
A good backgammon player is a player who knows how to distribute his checkers in a wise and responsible way. As a rule, it's wiser to have 2 checkers on two points rather than 4 checkers distributed on 4 points- i.e. to have even distribution of the checkers. Even distribution will help you become more flexible and your control and safety will upgrade.

Choose strategy
You can choose to play an offensive or defensive game, but be sure to be flexible about it too. If your opponent is playing a harsh defensive game, maybe you should consider to slow down your race and to concentrate on hitting his checkers.

Block
A good strategy is to form a block by building points without gaps between them in front of your opponent checkers in your home board. Start your blockade on those points specifically: 4, 5 and 7. Try to do it as early as you can and your control of the checkers movement will be better. Later you can concentrate on moving your own checkers.

Hitting checkers
The most important thing is to hit the most advanced checkers. A good hit can confuse your opponent and ruin his whole playing strategy. Don't take risks when you attack checkers, if you know that the risk for your checkers might grow because of the attack, consider other options. Hitting is not always the best move!

Establish Anchors
Anchors are defensive points in the opponent's home board. They will help you to have a safer landing point after you get hit and also disturb your opponent's attempts to make his home board.

Try to establish anchor points as early as you can and keep them as much as you can. If you see that you become significantly behind, start moving the anchors towards your home board.

Backgammon Basic Glossary
Ace point
Also known as one-point, the ace point is located in the home board and it is the farthest point from the bar.

Anchor
When 2 or more checkers are placed in an opponent's point.

Backgammon Board
A board of Backgammon is formed by 24 triangles, known as points. There are 4 quadrants that have 6 triangles with alternative colors. Each player has a home board and they are separated by a bar in the centre of the board.

Checker
Each player has a set of checkers (in all 15), each of different colors. Normally, they are black and white. Checkers are moved according to the dices.

Clockwise
In Blackgammon, checkers are moved clockwise while your opponent's do it counterclockwise.

Dice
Backgammon dices have numbers from 1 to 6 and they usually have a special shape in order to roll more easily. Players have to throw both dices in order to move their checkers. You move your checkers according to the number shown by the dices.

Home Board
Each player has a home board where checkers must come back at the end of the game. Your opponent has to enter it in order to get rid of his checkers on the bar. It contains your one to six point.

Illegal Move
The rules of Backgammon set a number of moves considered illegal. Normally, these are moves that do not match the dices' results.

On the bar
When a checker is hit, it should be placed on the bar that separates the board. The objective is to move that checker into the board again, in order to move the rest.

Point
Each quadrant of the board has 12 triangles, which make a total on 24. These narrow triangles where checkers are placed are called Points. They are numbered from 1 to 24 and therefore what is point-one for one player is point-twenty-four for his opponent.

Quadrant
A Backgammon board is formed by 4 quadrants, which are a quarters of the board. Each quadrant contains 6 points, numbered from 1 to 24.

Six Point
This is the point nearest to the bar on each backgammon board.