How to Play the Boardgame Backgammon

Familiarize yourself with the backgammon board. The board contains 24 alternately colored triangles called points, 12 on each side, numbered 1 through 24 on a continuous horseshoe-shaped track. As you will be facing opposite your opponent, your outermost point, 24, will be his 1 point, and vice versa. Points 1 through 6 are called your home board, points 7 through 12 your outer board.

Gather 15 checkers of your own color (your opponent should do the same) and set up the board. Place two checkers on your 24 points, five on your 13 points, three on your 8 points, and five on your 6 points.

Go over the object of the game: to move all of your checkers on to your home board and then remove, or bear off, those checkers before your opponent.

Begin the game with you and your opponent rolling one die. Whoever rolls a higher number makes the first move. If you both roll the same number, roll again until dissimilar numbers are rolled. After the initial roll, take alternate turns rolling two die at a time with some form of dice cup to ensure fairness.

Move the checkers based on the roll of the dice. The numbers shown determine how many points, or pips, a checker may move forward (never backward) and each die requires its own corresponding move. For instance, if you roll a 5-2 you may move one checker 2 pips and another checker 5 pips, or one checker 2 pips and then again 5 pips and so on.

Know what moves are legal. You may move a checker to an open point, a point only containing your checkers or a point that is occupied by only one of your opponent's checkers, called a blot.

Know what to do with a blot. If your opponent lands on your blot, place it in the middle of the board, the bar, and make its reentry your first priority. A checker on the bar must reenter the game through your opponent's home board, in correspondence with a roll of die. For instance, if you roll a 1-5 you can place your barred checker on your 24 point (your opponent's 1) or your 20 point (your opponent's 5), as long as either move is legal.

Double-check the rules for a rolled double, which requires you to play the numbers twice. If you roll a 3-3, make four separate moves of 3 however you deem appropriate.

Prepare for all circumstances. If you can move both die, do so. If you can move only one of two die, move the higher number if possible. If a die could not initially be moved but can be after your first play, do so. If you cannot move either die, forfeit your turn.

Get accustomed to the doubling cube, a large cube marked with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. Before you take your turn you may use the cube, starting with 2 facing up, to announce you are doubling the stakes of the game. Your opponent may forfeit the game, losing the previously set stakes, or accept the double. Your opponent is now in control of the doubling cube unless he decides to redouble the stakes with a 4, and so on up to 64 times the original stakes.

Bear off the checkers. Once all of your checkers are within your home board, remove them by rolling a die that corresponds with the point where a checker resides. If a die is rolled which is greater than the highest point on which a checker exists, remove a checker from that point instead. You are not required to bear off a checker if another legal move is available.

Score the game. You lose if your opponent bears off all his checkers first. You suffer a double loss, or gammon, if you have yet to bear off even one checker before your opponent finishes. You suffer a triple loss, or backgammon, if you have yet to bear off and have one or more checkers on the bar when your opponent finishes.