The rules of Backgammon.
Backgammon is a game for two players, with two dice and 15 checkers each, on a board of 24 points: you bring your checkers home as the dice fall and bear them off before your opponent does. Here it’s played by the international rules, as a match to 1, 3 or 5 points: a plain win scores one point, a gammon two, and the doubling cube is the host’s choice. Not played for money.
House rules, checked against the engine that applies them · updated
- Players
- 2
- Length
- 5–30 min
- Difficulty
- Strategic
- Leaderboard
- Yes
How to play.
Roll the dice, bring your checkers home and bear them off first.
- 01♠
The board and the checkers
Point Checkers at the start 24 2 13 5 8 3 6 5 - The board has 24 points — the triangles — six in each quarter. Each player has 15 checkers.
- Each player numbers the points from their own side, from 24 down to 1. Checkers always move down, toward point 1. Points 1–6 are your HOME; your point 24 is your opponent’s point 1, because they move the opposite way.
- On screen, your home is always at the bottom right.
- 02♥
The match and the points
How the game ends Points Plain win: you bore off all your checkers and your opponent bore off at least one 1 Gammon: you bore off all your checkers and your opponent bore off none 2 Your opponent declines a double what the cube showed before Your opponent runs out of time what the cube shows; double if a gammon was on the board - Each sitting is a MATCH to 1, 3 or 5 points. The host chooses when opening the table; if nothing was chosen, it’s a single game.
- A match is made up of games. After each game the board resets itself and the points add up. The first player to reach the chosen points wins the match.
- With a doubling cube, a game’s points are multiplied by the cube’s value: a gammon with the cube on 2 is worth 4 points.
- There is NO 3-point win from the international rules (opponent with checkers on the bar or in your home): a gammon is the most you can get.
- 03♦
The opening roll
- At the start of each game, each player rolls one die. The higher roll starts and plays exactly those two dice — their own and their opponent’s.
- On a tie the dice are rolled again, so a game never opens with doubles.
- The table rolls the opening dice, and they stay visible for a moment before the first move.
- 04♣
The turn
- You press “Roll the dice,” then move one checker for each die: with 5–3, one checker five points and another three, or the same checker eight — if the stop in between is open.
- On DOUBLES you play the number four times.
- A checker can land on an empty point, on a point where you already have checkers, or on a point where your opponent has a single checker. A point your opponent holds with two or more checkers is closed.
- Every checker you move is FINAL: touch it, move it. There is no “undo.”
- 05♠
Every die must be played
- You must play both dice — all four on doubles — whenever you can.
- If there is an order in which both can be played, you may not move so that the second stays unplayed. The table shows only the checkers that follow this rule.
- If you can play either die but not both, you play the HIGHER one.
- If you can’t move anything, the dice stay visible for a moment and the turn passes to your opponent.
- 06♥
Hitting and the bar
- A checker alone on a point can be HIT: your opponent lands on it and sends it to the bar, in the middle of the board.
- While you have a checker on the bar, you can’t move anything else. It enters in your opponent’s home, on the point shown by the die: with a 4, on the fourth point of their home — your point 21.
- If the points shown by both dice are closed, you can’t enter and you lose your turn.
- 07♦
Bearing off
- You start bearing off only when all 15 checkers are in your home. If one gets hit in the meantime, it must come back home before you bear off any more.
- A die bears off a checker from the point with its number: a 4 bears off a checker from point 4. Instead of bearing off, you can move a checker inside your home.
- With a die higher than the farthest point where you still have checkers, you bear off a checker from that point: with a 6, if you only have checkers from 4 down, you bear off from 4.
- The first player to bear off all their checkers wins the game.
- 08♣
The doubling cube
- Used only if the host picked it when opening the table, and only in 3- or 5-point matches.
- Each game starts with the cube in the middle, on 1. On your turn, BEFORE you roll, you can double the stakes of the game if the cube is in the middle or on your side.
- Your opponent either accepts — the game is worth double and the cube passes to them: only they can double next — or declines and loses the game at the previous value.
- The cube goes 2, 4, 8, up to 64.
- THE CRAWFORD RULE: in the first game after someone gets within one point of winning the match, there is no doubling. From the next game on, you can double again.
- There is no doubling on the first turn of a game: the two opening dice have already been rolled.
- 09♠
Thinking time
- The host picks the pace when opening the table: 20 or 40 seconds, or no timer. While no match is running, the host can change it in the table settings. The timer is shown on the table.
- The time covers the WHOLE turn — the roll and all the checkers — not each checker: it doesn’t restart after a checker is moved. When a double is offered, the player answering gets their own time.
- If you run out of time you lose the current GAME, at the cube’s value, and the match goes on with the next game. In a one-point match, the lost game is the match.
- A game lost on time counts as a plain loss, with one exception: if your opponent has already started bearing off and you haven’t borne off any, it’s a gammon — exactly what it would have been on the board. Otherwise, someone losing by a gammon would wait for the clock and get away with one point.
- If you stand up or leave the table during the match, you lose the whole match, whatever the score.
Rules differ from one place to another. The tables here play the version written above, so everyone plays by the same rules.
Do you play it differently?
The most common variants of Backgammon, and what happens with each one at the tables here.
The opening winner rolls againnot played here
At many tables in Romania, the opening roll only decides who starts, and that player then rolls both dice. Here we play the international rule: the first move uses the two opening dice.
The 3-point winnot played here
Under the international rules, if you lose without having borne off a single checker and still have one on the bar or in your opponent’s home, you lose triple. Not here: a gammon, 2 points, is the most you can get.
The doubling cubeplayed here
Home tables usually play without it. Here the host picks it when opening the table, for 3- and 5-point matches, with the Crawford rule.
Touch-moveplayed here
Played here too: every checker you move stays moved. Other sites let you redo your turn until you press “done.”
Gioc and long backgammonnot played here
Games where all the checkers start from one corner and aren’t hit but blocked. They’re different games on the same board; here we play only regular backgammon.
Automatic doubles, beavers, the Jacoby rulenot played here
Rules of money play — the cube goes up by itself on opening doubles, the doubled player redoubles on the spot, a gammon counts only if there was a double. None of them is used in a match, so not here either.
How to play better.
Make your 5 and 4 points
The 5 point is the most valuable on the board, then the 4 and the bar point (7). A hit checker struggles to enter a home with three or four points made, and while it sits on the bar your opponent can’t move anything.
Count the rolls that hit you
A lone checker six points or closer to an opposing checker is hit by 11 to 17 rolls out of 36. At seven points or farther, by 6 at most. If you have to leave a checker exposed, leave it far away.
Get your back checkers moving early
The two checkers on point 24 have the longest way to go and are the first to get locked behind a wall. Move them while the board is still open, not when your opponent already has four points in a row.
Six points in a row can’t be passed
A checker can’t jump over six closed points side by side. Four or five in a row, in front of your opponent’s back checkers, usually win the game without a single hit.
When you’re ahead, run; when you’re behind, stay
The count under the board shows how many points each player still has to travel. If you’re ahead, break contact and turn the game into a race. If you’re behind, hold a point in your opponent’s home and wait for an exposed checker.
The cube: double early, decline rarely
In a clean race, double from a lead of 8–10% on the count, and accept down to a deficit of 12%. Whoever accepts holds the cube, and that has value: only they can double next.
Questions about Backgammon.
- How many players can play Backgammon?
- Exactly 2. The table doesn’t seat more.
- How many checkers does Backgammon use?
- 15 checkers per player, on a board of 24 points, with two dice. At the start there are 2 on point 24, 5 on point 13, 3 on point 8 and 5 on point 6.
- How long does a match of Backgammon take?
- About 5–30 min. The host sets the pace: 20 or 40 seconds per turn, or no timer at all.
- Can I play Backgammon against the computer?
- Yes. The host can seat bots in the empty seats, at two skill levels. But the moment the first bot sits down, the table drops off the leaderboard: a bot has no rating to put at stake.
- Do Backgammon matches count toward the leaderboard?
- Yes, as long as everyone at the table is human. Each game has its own leaderboard, with an Elo-style rating that starts at 1000.
- Do I need an account to play Backgammon?
- To sit at a table, yes. The rules above, the catalog and the leaderboards can be read without one, and you can watch an open table from the sidelines.
- Does it cost anything to play Backgammon here?
- No. The site is free: no subscriptions, no in-game payments and no playing for money. The account is free too.
Now you know the rules.
Create a table and play — no account needed.