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After the last of a player’s checkers has been entered, any unused numbers
on the dice must be played, by moving either the checker that was entered
or a different checker. An alternate arrangement is the reverse of the one shown here,
with the home board on the left and the outer board on the right. If the losing player didn’t bear off any pieces and has a chip on the middle https://pelican-casino.de bar, they are backgammoned and lose three games. If you roll a double on the dice, it doubles your amount of movement. For example, if you rolled double 5s, you would move four discs five spaces. If the opponent accepts the challenge, the player that accepted now can double the game once again if the tide turns in their favor, raising the stakes from two points to four.
- Backgammon is often considered one of the oldest known board games in existence.
- The objective of backgammon is to move all your checkers into your home board and then bear them off.
- At the beginning of the game, the doubling cube is placed halfway between the players, either on the bar or at the side of the board, with the number 64 face up.
- Erik Arneson is a highly respected board game expert, sharing his 20 years of knowledge on gaming strategies.
- The home and outer boards are separated from each other by a ridge down the center of the board called the bar.
- In this case the opposing checker is “hit” and placed on the bar.
It doesn’t matter if they win more than that number, or how many points their opponent has scored. The sole goal is to win the match, and the final score is immaterial. The doubling cube is indicated by a square outline in the center of the bar. If Black owns the cube it is shown at the bottom of the bar; if White owns it, it is shown at the top of the bar. Remember that when the cube shows ‘64’ that is actually a value of ‘1’. You may bear off a checker by rolling the number that corresponds to the point on which that checker resides.
Doubling Cube
If the player is unable to bear off, they must move a checker from a higher point. A backgammon board has four quadrants of six triangles each. The four quadrants are the opponent’s home board and outer board and your home board and outer board. The home boards are separated from the outboards by the bar. Look at the screenshot below, the game has reached a point where Blue has an advantage over White.
HOW TO PLAY BACKGAMMON
Now that someone has the cube, it’s up to them when/if they want to use it again to double the stakes at a later turn. There is no bonus for winning more than the required number of points. When playing a match to a certain number of points, the winner is the first person who wins that number of points.
Players will roll for their turn and must move discs from their piles onto their opponent’s home board. Once a player plays on the board, you may use your future rolls to move discs further down the board. Backgammon is played on a board consisting of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. The quadrants are referred to as the player’s home board and outer board and the opponent’s home and outer board. The home and outer boards are separated from each other by a ridge down the center of the board called the bar. If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, the player
must make a legal move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. If there are no checkers on higher-numbered points, the player is
permitted (and required) to remove a checker from the highest point on
which one of his checkers resides.
The numbering of points is based on the point of view of the player whose turn it is to move. Each point therefore has two numbers, depending upon who is on roll. For example, White’s 5-point (or 5-pt) is Black’s 20-point. Diagrams are normally numbered from the viewpoint of the player whose home board is at the bottom of the diagram. Each movement is shown by giving the start and end point of the checker separated by a ‘/’.
If accepted, the initial bet is now doubled and possession of the cube is given to the player that accepted the bet. At it’s core, backgammon is a simple game with the objective of removing your pieces from the board by passing through the opponents half of the board. It’s a strictly 2-player game, which is why it was a popular strategic gambling game throughout history for two players. A player who is offered a double may refuse to accept it, in which case they concede the game and pay one point. Otherwise, they must accept the double and play on for the new higher stake. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the cube, the cube is placed on their side of the board (showing the new value), and only they may make the next double. The checkers are moved around the board toward a player’s home board.
A player is under no obligation to bear off if he can make an otherwise
legal move. A player must have all of his active checkers in his home board in order
to bear off. If a checker is hit during the bear-off process, the player must bring
that checker back to his home board before continuing to bear off.
The Crawford Rule states that if one player reaches a score one point short of the match (i.e. they are at match point), their opponent may not offer a double in the immediately following game. This one game without doubling is called the Crawford Game. After the Crawford Game, if the match has not yet been decided, the doubling cube is available again. Automatic doubles, beavers, raccoons and the Jacoby Rule are not used in match play. Additionally, some people allow the original doubler to turn the cube up another notch to 8 if they believe the beaver to be incorrect – this is called a raccoon.
MATERIALS: Backgammon Board, Checkers, Dice, Cups
The bar separates the outer side from the home side of the board. The 24 triangles on the board are known as the points, and the Slotsmagic Casino checkers are called discs. Backgammon is made for audiences 6 years and older, making it a perfect game for family game night.
Returning Pieces/Bearing Off
If you can remove all 15 of your discs before your opponent has borne off any of theirs, it is considered a gammon, and the win is worth two points instead of one. If you can land on a point with only ONE of your opponent’s pieces, known as a “blot,” then you can hit your opponent and move their piece to the bar. The bar is the middle crease of the board, where it folds in half. You can hit more than one of your opponent’s pieces in a turn. Now, the opponent with discs on the bar cannot make any other move until their pieces are off the bar. They must re-enter the board on their opponent’s home board. There is some terminology that comes along with playing backgammon.
Your two farthest back checkers start on the opponent’s ace-point. Notice that the player who goes first never has doubles on their first turn because ties on the first roll are always broken. We’re here to help you succeed with some simple steps on how to play backgammon for beginners. Blue’s checkers are placed opposite of White’sWhite moves counterclockwise and Blue moves clockwise. Begin counting with the point in the corner closest to you and the exit side. Continuing around the board ending with 24 in the upper corner of the board across from your number 1 point. Your number 24 point should be your opponents number 1 point and so on.
Players must move all their checkers from the opponents home board their own, by passing the pips from the 24 space down to the 1 space. At the end of the game the first player to bear off all their checkers wins the total amount of the stake indicated by the value of the doubling cube. A gammon win doubles the value of the cube and a backgammon win triples the value. If a player refuses a redouble they must pay the number of points that were at stake prior to the redouble. Otherwise, they accept the redouble, become the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous stake. There is no limit to the number of times a double may be offered in one game. After a redouble only the owner of the doubling cube can make a subsequent redouble.
Once a player has successfully entered all their pieces into their home board, they can start bearing off. This is done by rolling a number equal to how many spaces are left until the checker leaves the board. So a checker on the 6 point would need a roll of 6 to bear off. Gammons and backgammons count only as a single game if a double has not been offered and accepted during the course of the game. This rule speeds up play by eliminating situations where a player avoids doubling so they can play on for a gammon.