Backgammon · Rules & strategy

Board and checkers

The board has 24 long triangles called points, split into two halves by the bar in the middle. Each side starts with fifteen checkers: two on the 24-point, five on the 13-point, three on the 8-point and five on the 6-point. Here the point numbers are always shown from your side: your checkers move from 24 down to 1, and points 1–6 are your home board. Your opponent moves the opposite way.

Opening roll and turns

To start, each player rolls one die; the higher number goes first and plays those two numbers as the first move (ties are re-rolled). After that, every turn begins with a roll of both dice and each number is played separately: with 5 and 3 you can move one checker five and another three, or one checker five and then three more. Doubles (say 4 and 4) give you four moves of that number.

Blocked points, blots and hitting

You may not land on a point occupied by two or more enemy checkers. Landing on a point with a single enemy checker (a blot) hits it and puts it on the bar. A player with a checker on the bar must bring it back in through the opponent’s home board before moving anything else; if every entry point is blocked, the turn is lost.

Use as much of the roll as possible

If there is any way to play both numbers, you must play both. If only one can be played you must play it, and if either could be played but not both, you must play the larger one. Doubles must be used as far as possible too; numbers that cannot be used are forfeited. This site enforces all of this for you and only highlights checkers and points that are legal. If you cannot move at all, your turn passes automatically.

Bearing off and winning

Once all fifteen checkers are in your home board you may bear them off. A roll removes a checker from the matching point, or — if no checker sits on a higher point — from the highest occupied point. The first player to bear off all fifteen wins. If the loser has borne off none, it is a gammon (2 points); if the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner’s home board, it is a backgammon (3 points). Games here are single games without the doubling cube, and only the win or loss counts toward your rating.

Controls

On your turn tap “Roll” (or the dice on the board). Checkers you can move get a green ring; tap one and its possible destinations glow green, then tap a destination to move. If only one checker can reach a point, tapping that point alone is enough. Both players’ pip counts (distance left to travel) are shown in the top-right corner.

Make the key points first

Your 5-point and the 7-point next to the bar (the bar point) are the best places to trap enemy checkers. The classic opening plays are 3-1 to make your 5-point (8/5, 6/5) and 6-1 to make the bar point (13/7, 8/7). Six consecutive made points form a prime, which enemy checkers cannot jump.

Leave blots on purpose — but count the shots

A lone checker is in most danger within six points of an enemy checker. Spreading builders to make good points next turn is often worth the risk, but be more careful when your opponent’s home board is strong, because a hit checker will struggle to come back in.

Know whether you are racing or fighting

Compare pip counts. Well ahead? Break contact and run home. Behind? Hold an anchor (two checkers on a point in the opponent’s home board) and wait for a shot. When bearing off against contact, choose the order of moves that leaves no blots before you think about speed.

Using the AI levels

Easy picks any reasonable play. Normal weighs made points, blot risk and the pip count to find the best play for each roll. Hard also averages over all 21 possible replies of the dice and your best response to each. Dice luck is a big factor, so judge your progress over a series of games.

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