Played the game years ago and enjoyed it lots and I needed a refresher. It depends. The only time you forfeit is when all spots that correspond to the number you rolled have two or more checkers from the opposing player on them. To create this article, 42 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. You can only move your checker onto the 6th or the 2nd point to reenter. We are now enjoying the game, and learning more about strategy as we play. To play hyper gammon set up your board like this: 1. Rolling 2 of the same number allows that player to move 4 times. The quadrants are referred to as a player's home board … The triangles alternate in color and are grouped into four quadrants of six triangles each. Backgammon is played on a board that consists of 24 narrow triangles that are called points. A player is under no obligation to bear off if he can make an otherwise legal move. Alternatively, that player may move 1 piece 7 points. To start play, players take alternating turns rolling 2 6-sided dice. What is the correct move when rolling a 1 or a 2? Each player's home board is positioned on the right quadrant closest to the player. Read "How to Play Backgammon A Beginner's Guide to Learning the Game, Rules, Board, Pieces, and Strategy to Win at Backgammon" by Chad Bomberger available from Rakuten Kobo. At the beginning of the next player’s turn, they must use at least 1 of their rolls to remove that piece from the partition and start it over from the beginning point on their side of the board. We use cookies to collect information from your browser to personalize content and perform site analytics. If a player moves a piece to a point with only 1 of their opponent’s pieces on it, that opposing player’s piece is removed from the board and placed on the middle partition. Approved. Visit our Privacy Policy for more info. Modern Backgammon can trace its roots back to the ancient Egyptian game of Senet and the Mesopotamian game The Royal Game of Ur. Each turn, a player rolls two dice. Excellent, thank you. This article has 17 testimonials from our readers, earning it our reader-approved status. Thorough without being complicated and wordy. No, you must move a checker if there is an open spot. The first thing you will notice about the Backgammon board is the 24 distinct elongated triangles called points. Your play direction. What do I do with the checkers that start off in my homeboard? But if you do not have a checker on the 6 point, you can bear it off from the next highest point on your board, such as the 5th or 4th point. Needed refreshed, and this step by step lesson, "I watched a video on backgammon that made things even more complicated. How to Play Backgammon: A Beginner's Guide to Learning the Game, Rules, Board, Pieces, and Strategy to Win at Backgammon [Bomberger, Chad] on Amazon.com. The game starts with both players each rolling a single die to determine who goes first. The players enter their checkers in the opponent's home board, then bring them around the board … Backgammon is one of the oldest board games with origins dating as far back as 3000 BC. ", "Thanks a lot! The player moves his checkers from the direction of the other player's home board in a horse-shoe like direction, moving counterclockwise. I moved my markers incorrectly to the number rolled and it wasn't discovered until my opponent had rolled (but not played). The oldest board identifiable as being used to play Backgammon was unearthed in the city Shahr-e Sukhteh in modern-day Iran. Do I have to play with the doubling cube? There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Each dice can represent one of your checkers (whichever you want). wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. For example, if you have a checker in the 5 point and roll a 5-1, you must first move the checker over 1 to the 4 point and then bear it off using the 5 value. On occasion, we also use cookies to collect information from our toddlers, but that’s a totally different thing. play. If you want to keep playing more games but can't do it in one sitting, you can keep a tally of the points lost by each player and return to the game at another time. He will have ownership of the cube and will be able to propose a doubling during any of his future turns. easy to follow tutorials on playing backgammon, designed for the absolute beginning player. Can I choose not to bear off an exposed checker and move the exposed checker? Once a player moves a piece 1 point past the edge of the board, it is removed from the game. Remember that you can either move one checker twice or move two checkers once. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. It's actually one of the oldest board games! The one with the higher roll starts, and uses the dice he and the opponent rolled to make his first move. For each of the numbers that gets rolled, the rolling player moves 1 or 2 pieces based on the numbers rolled on the dice. If the opponent uses the cube again, the control shifts back to the first player, and so on. As many as you want, as long as the slot doesn't contain the opponent's 2 or more pieces. Hypergammon is a newer version of backgammon game play that has been created to enable rapid play games. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. A regular loss. Setup: Each player starts with fifteen checkers off the board. Welcome to Backgammon - Lord of the Board - If you LOVE playing online Backgammon with friends then you have come to the right place! If you want to learn how to get your pieces off of the board so you can win, keep reading the article! Do I have to make a move if it puts my stone in jeopardy, or can I forfeit my turn? Each player has 15 checkers and two dice. If you want to learn how to get your pieces off of the board so you can win, keep reading the article! Equipment . If either of the dice lands on a checker, outside of the board, or leaning against the edge of the board, then it is not considered valid and you will have to reroll. The vertical strip down the middle of the board is called the “bar” and it is where checkers are placed after they are “hit” or “sent back” back to menu ↑ How to set up the backgammon board Read on to learn everything you need to know about playing Backgammon, like how to set up the game, the rules of play, and how to win. 2. The object of Backgammon is to move your checkers around the board by rolling dice. Your support helps wikiHow to create more in-depth illustrated articles and videos and to share our trusted brand of instructional content with millions of people all over the world. 15 dark round pieces. Backgammon Board Layout. The home boards are opposite each other, and so are the outer boards, which are located in the left quadrant. But most … It is a game of luck and strategy and popular around the world. The triangles are numbered from 1-24 in most of the Backgammon boards, with the 24th point being the furthest point from the player, and with 1 being the right most triangle on the player's home court. ", helped us to get started! The goal of the game is to be the first to remove all of your pieces off of the board, which is also called “bearing off.” To set the game up, the first player sets 3 pieces up in a vertical row at the base of the fifth point from their left, in the bottom half of the board, and 5 pieces in the first point directly to the bottom right of the board’s partition. Your opponent will lose only the value on the doubling cube. I read through all the rules and can't wait to start playing again. Backgammon is a game for two players, played on a board consisting of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. Each player has four stacks of pieces on the backgammon board. Then, that player lines up 5 pieces at the left-most point at the top left, and 2 pieces in the last point on the top right. Dice and Dice Cup; A pair of dice with six sides numbered 1-6. While you can pass your checker over a pip, it cannot stop on a full pip. So, if you roll a 4 and a 6, you can move one dice four times and one six times. How to Play Backgammon Online. "We easily found out how to set up the board, and the article answered all the queries that came up as we learned to, "I used to play back in the 80's all the time. If you still have a die to play and no checker to bear off, you must move a checker according to the number on the die. Backgammon involves two players; the goal of the game is to be the first player to move all 15 of your checkers from their starting position off the board. As long as the total moves add up to 12 and each move lands in an open point, you're in good shape. You must move a lower die roll before a higher one even if it means you can't fully use the full value of a die. Tournament rules state that disagreements over this and similar preferences can be determined by rolling dice, with the high roller getting his first choice. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. You only need 2 checkers to block a point, but you can have as many of your checkers as you want on a single point. Winning at Backgammon. A full triangle is called a “pip.” A pip is “full” when there are two or more opposing checkers already stacked on it. % of people told us that this article helped them. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/e\/e8\/Play-Backgammon-Step-1-Version-4.jpg\/v4-460px-Play-Backgammon-Step-1-Version-4.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/e\/e8\/Play-Backgammon-Step-1-Version-4.jpg\/aid45190-v4-728px-Play-Backgammon-Step-1-Version-4.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"