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How to Set Up a Backgammon Board

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How to Play Backgammon

After you and your opponent have placed your checkers on the board, it’s time to start playing the game.

Decide Who Plays First

To determine which player goes first, each player rolls one die onto the board. The player whose roll is higher plays first. If the rolls are equal, the players roll the dice again.

How to Roll the Dice in Backgammon

There are two details to keep in mind whenever you roll the dice in backgammon:

Roll the dice onto the side of the board to your right. This is universally accepted backgammon etiquette.
Roll the dice using a dice cup, a small opaque cup used for shaking and rolling dice. These cups are included with nearly every backgammon set and help ensure an honest roll.

For the first move only, the player who won the initial roll uses as his first move the values of the players’ initial rolls. For example, if white rolls a 5 and black rolls a 3, white plays first and uses 5-3 as his move.

How to Move Your Backgammon Checkers

The two colors of checkers move in opposite directions on the backgammon board.

The white checkers move counterclockwise from black’s inner board at the upper right of the board to white’s inner board at the lower right.
The black checkers move clockwise from white’s inner board at the lower right of the board to black’s inner board at the upper right.

Each player tries to accomplish this before the other.

How to Move Your Checkers Based on Your Roll

Every move in backgammon begins with rolling the dice. The number on each die determines how many points you can move one of your checkers. Each die in backgammon is considered separately, which means that you can use the values on each die to move two separate checkers, or you can use them sequentially to move one checker. For example, a roll of 4-2 can be played in one of three ways:

Move one checker four points and another checker two points.
Move one checker four points, then move the same checker two points.
Move one checker two points, then move the same checker four points.

Note that even if you want to move just one checker, you can’t just add up the two dice and move the checker six points. You have to treat each die as separate, and move the checker four spaces and then two (or vice versa). This rule is important because your opponent can make a point, or block your access, to certain spaces.

Made Points and Moving Your Checkers

Making a point in backgammon means having two or more of your checkers on a single space. At the beginning of the game, white has the 6, 8, 13, and 24 points made. Points that you control in this manner are desirable because they can block your opponent’s checkers.

Your opponent is not allowed to land on any points you’ve made, and you are not allowed to land on any points your opponent has made. For instance, imagine the following scenario:

You roll a 4-2 and want to move a particular checker.
Your opponent has made the points that are two and four spaces from the checker you want to move.

You cannot move this checker since both your dice will cause your checker to land on a made point.

Other Rules for Moving Your Checkers

In addition to the rule that you can’t move your checkers to points made by your opponent, there are a few other rules about moving checkers in backgammon:

A checker may pass over made points: For instance, say you roll a 4-2 and your opponent has made the point two spaces from your checker. Though you can’t move the checker two spaces, you can move it four spaces, passing over the made point. When you pass over a made point, that point still counts in determining how far to move a checker.
A checker may land on an empty point or a point occupied by your own checkers: If the point is already occupied by other checkers of yours, the moved checker is added to the checkers on that point, forming a column of checkers along the point.
A checker may land on a point occupied by only one of your opponent’s checkers: A solitary checker is called a blot. When a blot is landed on, or hit, by the opponent, the blot is sent to the bar. Blots are explained in more detail later in this section.

You must use both dice if possible. In the rare instance that you’re able to use either number but not both together, you must use the higher number. You can pass your turn only if you have no legal moves.

Doubles and Moving Checkers

If you roll doubles, such as a 3-3, you’re given four moves of the number rolled. For example, rolling a 3-3 means that you have four 3s at your disposal. You could use 3-3 in any one of the following ways:

Move four checkers three points each.
Move two checkers three points each, then move them three points each again.
Move two checkers three points each, then move another checker three points twice.
Move one checker three points four times.

Because rolling doubles provides you with two extra moves, it can give you a substantial advantage.

Notation for Moving Checkers

In backgammon notation, moving a checker is denoted by indicating its starting point followed by its ending point. The two numbers are separated by a slash. If more than one piece is moved on a given turn (which is the norm), each move is separated by a comma. For example, moving a checker from the 8 point to the 5 point and another checker from the 6 point to the 5 point is indicated by “8/5, 6/5.”

Blots

A blot is a solitary checker placed on a point with no other checkers. Blots are vulnerable to being hit, which occurs when an opponent lands a checker on the point where the blot is located. If you hit an opponent’s blot, the blot is sent to the bar. If your opponent hits one of your blots, your checker is sent to the bar. Having a blot sent to the bar is bad for two reasons:

You can’t move other checkers: You must first get all your checkers off the bar before you can move any of your other checkers on the board.
Blots moved off the bar go to the opponent’s inner board: Your opponent’s inner board is the farthest place from where you need to get your checkers in order to win. In other words, when a blot gets hit, it gets sent all the way back to the beginning.

How to Get Checkers Off the Bar

To get a checker off the bar, you must roll a roll that allows you to move the checker to an available space in your opponent’s inner board. You may enter onto points that are empty, that have an opponent’s blot, or that contain one or more of your checkers. You may not enter onto points your opponent has made in the inner board. If you enter onto an opponent’s blot, that blot is then sent to the bar.

For the purpose of getting off the bar, it’s easiest to think of the spaces in your opponent’s inner board as being numbered 1–6, with 1 being the point on the far right of the inner board and 6 being the point on the inner board adjacent to the bar. In the example here, white has two checkers on the bar, and black has all but points 1 and 4 in her inner board made.

To get the white checkers off the bar, white needs to roll 4-1. If white rolls and does not get either a 4 or a 1, then white can’t move either checker off the bar and must wait for his next turn to roll again. If white rolls just one of the necessary numbers, say a 4-3, then he can move one checker off the bar, but the other must remain until he eventually rolls the necessary number to get that checker off the bar.

If you’ve made all six points in your inner board and send one of your opponents blots to the bar, your opponent is not allowed to roll since no possible roll will permit those checkers to get off the bar. Your opponent gets to roll again only when you move your checkers and no longer have every point in your inner board made.

Notation for Moving a Checker from the Bar

To indicate that a checker is moving off the bar, use the word bar instead of a point number. For example, if white is able to move two checkers off the bar to the 24 and 21 points, it would be indicated by the notation “bar/24, bar/21.”

How to Bear Off

Bearing off refers to moving a checker off the backgammon board entirely. To win a game of backgammon, you have to bear off all 15 of your checkers before your opponent is able to do the same.

However, you may bear off only after you’ve moved all your checkers around the board into your own inner board. Once all 15 of your checkers are inside your inner board, you can start the process of bearing off.

The Process for Bearing Off

When you bear off, you move your checkers along the points of your inner board and then off the board entirely. Most players put their checkers in a neat row when they move them off the board so that it’s easier to set up the next game.

When you bear off, you must, if possible, use the full value of each die. For example, say white has checkers in his inner board (shown here) and rolls a 5-2. In this case, white can bear off the white checker from point 2. But he must use the full value of the 5 roll to move the checker from point 6 five spaces to point 1 rather than bear off other checkers.

The sole exception to this rule occurs when it’s totally impossible for a player to use the full value of a roll. In the scenario below, white has again rolled 5-2 but has no checkers five or six spaces from the end of his inner board.

In this case, since white can’t use the full value of the 5 roll, he can use the 5 to bear off one of his checkers from point 4.

Notation for Bearing Off

To indicate that a checker has been borne off, the word off is used instead of a point number. For example, bearing off checkers from the 4 and 2 points is indicated by “4/off, 2/off.”

How to Win a Game of Backgammon

The first player to bear off all 15 of his checkers wins. Even if the winning player played first, the losing player is not given a final turn to bear off any checkers. As soon as one player bears off all 15 checkers, the game is over.

Gammons and Backgammons

If one player wins before the other has borne off any checkers at all, the game is called a gammon. A gammon is worth two regular games. If you’re playing with the doubling cube, a gammon doubles the value of the game.

If one player wins while the other player still has one or more checkers on the bar or in his opponent’s inner board, the game is called a backgammon. A backgammon is worth three regular games. If you’re playing with the doubling cube, a backgammon triples the value of the game.

Acknowledgments & Disclaimer

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How to Set Up a Backgammon Board

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The Doubling Cube

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