Rules for Playing the Game Backgammon

Setup

• The 24 elongated triangles (12 on each side of the board) are known as points. Although they are physically divided, the two sides of the board should be seen as one long, horizontal U shape. You will move your pieces along the U in one direction, and your opponent will move his pieces along the U in the opposite direction. Once all your pieces are in the final group of six points, you work to remove them from the board.

  Each player starts on the exact opposite spaces of his opponent and follows the U shape around the board, ending where his opponent began.

  Players place two pieces on the first triangle of their opponent's "home board," then five pieces on the 12th point, three pieces on the 17th and five more on the 19th.

Starting

• Both players roll a die and the one with the highest roll goes first. He moves his pieces the total number of spaces shown on the two rolled dice. If players roll the same number, they roll again until one outscores the other.

Playing

• Players roll both dice during their turns. The total of the roll is the total number of spaces a player can move his pieces around the board in the U-shape, toward his opponent's starting point and off the board.

  The player can move one or two pieces on each move--he can move one piece the total of the roll, or two pieces the number that appears on each die. For example, if he rolls a three and a six, he can move one piece nine spaces or one piece three spaces and another piece six spaces. If moving one piece the total number on the dice, the move is not allowed if the space the player would first "stop" on (in this example, three or six spaces from the piece's starting position) is occupied by two or more of his opponent's pieces.

Doubles

• If a player rolls doubles (three/three, for example), he can double the total and move his pieces that amount; however, his moves must match the numbers he's rolled. For instance, if he rolls a three/three, he may move four pieces three spaces each, two pieces six spaces each, one piece 12 spaces, or one piece nine spaces and another three spaces. But again, if the initial stopping point is occupied by two or more of your opponent's pieces (in this example if you want to move a piece six spaces total but the space three points away from where you're starting is blocked), the move is not allowed.

Points

• If a player has one or more pieces on a triangle, his opponent cannot land a piece there. His opponent can pass it when moving his men, but cannot stop on it.

One Piece

• If a player has only one piece on a triangle and his opponent lands one of his pieces there, he must move his single piece off the board and onto the bar that separates the board into two halves. He must bring it back in on his next roll. If he can't because the spaces his piece would land on are occupied by his opponent, he loses his turn.

  To bring it back, he must roll a number that allows him to land on an empty space. For example, if he rolls a four/five, and his opponent has a piece on the fourth space but not the fifth, he can move his piece to the fifth space. For this purpose, points in your opponent's home board are numbered one through six, with one being the point where you had two pieces set up when you first began the game.

Ending the Game

• Players must get all of their pieces into the last quadrant of the board before they can start moving them off. Once they do, they can move pieces off the board according to their dice rolls.

  The six points in your home board correspond to the six numbers on a die. Looking at your home board, one is the point closest to the end of the U. If you roll a two and a four, for example, you can remove one piece from the two point and one from the four point, on you can remove one piece from the six point. If you roll doubles, you can remove four pieces from that number.

  The rolls do not have to be exact. In other words, if a piece is five spaces away from exiting the board and the player rolls a six and there are no pieces on the sixth point, the piece on the five point can be removed. If, however, you roll a two and a three, and you have pieces on every point except two and three, you may not remove anything.

  The player who removes all of his pieces from the board first is the winner.