Learning how to play backgammon is the first step in a journey to join the millions of players throughout millennia, who love to challenge their strategic skills and their luck in an exciting one-on-one competition. With its unique blend of luck and skills and straightforward rules, this board game continues to captivate new players, bringing together different generations around one single game board.
Getting to Know Backgammon
The history of backgammon is a bit convoluted, but one thing is for certain: it is one of the oldest known board games in the world. Several archaeological discoveries have unearthed boards very similar to the ones we still use nowadays amidst the ruins of ancient civilizations, including Egypt, Rome, and Persia. This would place the first backgammon game, or at least an earlier version of it, around 5000 years ago.
As time went by, this classic board evolved and adapted to different cultures, prompting regional variations to emerge across the globe. However, despite these variations, its core mechanics have remained remarkably consistent, allowing modern players to connect with a tradition that spans cultures and generations.
How to Play Backgammon: Rules and Gameplay
Backgammon is an exciting game that blends strategy and luck. While the basic rules are straightforward, the allure of this classic board game lies in the numerous opportunities to showcase one's superior strategy skills to defeat any opponent, even when the dice don't cooperate.
The goal is to be the first player bearing off your checkers from the board. To do it, you must first move them across the board and into your home board (the quadrant closest to you). Bearing off cannot start until all your checkers are in your home board.
Setting Up the Board
Backgammon's board has 24 narrow triangles called points, divided into four quadrants of six points each. Each player has 15 checkers of their own color, typically black and white. To set up the board:
- Place two checkers on your 24-point (your opponent's 1-point)
- Place five checkers on your 13-point (your opponent's 12-point)
- Place three checkers on your 8-point (your opponent's 17-point)
- Place five checkers on your 6-point (your opponent's 19-point)
Your opponent sets up their pieces in a mirror image on the opposite side of the board.
Moving the Checkers
Players take turns rolling two dice to learn how many points they can move their checkers. Each die represents a separate move. For example, if you roll a 5 and a 3, you can move one checker 5 spaces and another 3 spaces. You can also move the same checker twice. However, don't confuse moving the same checker twice with combining the value of the dice.
When you roll doubles (the same number on both dice), you get to move four times instead of two. For instance, rolling double 5s allows you to make four moves of 5 spaces each.
You can only move your checkers into empty points or those that already have your checkers on them. If a point is occupied by two or more checkers from your opponent, that point is blocked. However, if you land on a point occupied by a single opponent's checker (called a "blot"), you "hit" that checker out of the board and onto the bar in the center of the board. A player with checkers on the bar must re-enter them into the opponent's home board before making any other moves.
Bearing Off
Once all your checkers are in your home board, you can start bearing them off. The rules to move the checkers still apply. The only difference is that you must roll a corresponding number to bear off. For example, if you roll a 6, you can only bear off a checker on point 6. If point 6 is empty, then you can bear off the checkers on point 5, and so on.
The Doubling Cube
The doubling cube is an optional gambling feature that adds a new layer of strategy to the game. At the start of their turn, each player can call in the cube to double the stake of the game. The opponent can either accept the new stakes or concede the game at the current value. If accepted, the cube is turned to show the current doubling stakes. For example, the first time the cube is used and accepted, it is turned to show the number 2 on top. If the opponent later calls in the cube to double the stakes again and the initial player accepts it, then the cube is turned to show the number 4 on top, and so on.
The doubling cube doesn't affect the gameplay or overall rules of the game in any other way.
Scoring
When learning how to play backgammon, the main thing you need to know is that the player that bears off their checkers first wins the game. However, there are three scoring rules, depending on the situation on the board when the winning happens.
A regular win happens when both players have started bearing off their checkers, but one beats the other at it. In this case, the winner scores the current stakes in the game. A gammon is worth double the current stakes and happens when the opponent is not able to bear off a single checker before the game ends. Lastly, there is the backgammon, which is worth the triple of the current stakes. A backgammon takes place when the opponent still has checkers on the home board of the winner or on the bar when the game ends.
Online vs. Physical Backgammon
Backgammon is one of many board games that transition successfully into the virtual realm of the internet. In fact, its presence online only helped cement its popularity and attract new players willing to learn how to play backgammon and join a worldwide community of players of all ages. Still, there are pros and cons to both the traditional and the online versions of the game.
Online platforms take the lead position when it comes to availability. Finding a partner willing to play while having the board at hand is no longer an issue. With an internet connection, players can find a fellow human to play against or challenge a computer-controlled opponent easily. Additionally, arguments about the rules or scoring of each game become non-existent as these digital versions include automated move validation systems. This is also a plus to help beginners who are not yet completely familiar with how to play backgammon.
The main letdown of online backgammon is the lack of sensorial stimuli. Virtual platforms cannot match the feeling of moving the checkers with one's hands, the thrill of shaking the dice and letting them fall on the board, and the pleasure of looking at an opponent's face directly.
Both formats have their merits. The good news is that, regardless of the chosen format, the fundamental strategies and excitement of backgammon remain the same.
Embracing Its Timeless Appeal
Learning how to play backgammon offers new players the opportunity to enroll in challenging competitions where their own strategy skills and luck determine their wins and losses. Whether you are playing against a friend, a stranger, or a computer-controlled opponent, each game is unique in itself and it is up to you to shape it in your favor.
The more you play, the better you become at reading the game's progression and devising the most suitable strategy to defeat your opponent. Set up your board, shake those dice, and embrace the timeless appeal of backgammon.
