Backgammon is a game for two players, played on a board consisting of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. The home and outer boards are separated from each other by a ridge down the center of the board called the bar.
The object of the game is for a player to move all of his checkers into his own home board and then bear them off. The first player to bear off all of his checkers wins the game.
Movement
of the Checkers
To start the game, each player throws a single die. This determines both
the player to go first and the numbers to be played. If equal numbers
come up, then both players roll again until they roll different numbers.
The player throwing the higher number now moves his checkers according
to the numbers showing on both dice. After the first roll, the players
throw two dice and alternate turns. The roll of the dice indicates how
many points, or pips, the player is to move his checkers. The checkers
are always moved forward.
The following rules apply
1. A checker may be moved only to an open point, one that is not
occupied by two or more opposing checkers. 2. The numbers on the
two dice constitute separate moves. For example, if a player rolls 5 and
3, he may move one checker five spaces to an open point and another checker
three spaces to an open point, or he may move the one checker a total
of eight spaces to an open point, but only if the intermediate point (either
three or five spaces from the starting point) is also open.On
the bar, he must enter the checker on to Red's four point since Red's
six point is not open.
3. A player who rolls doubles plays the numbers shown on the dice
twice. A roll of 6 and 6 means that the player has four sixes to use,
and he may move any combination of checkers he feels appropriate to complete
this requirement.
4. A player must use both numbers of a roll if this is legally
possible (or all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be
played, the player must play that number. When neither number can be used,
the player loses his turn. In the case of doubles, when all four numbers
cannot be played, the player must play as many numbers as he can. Hitting
and EnteringA point occupied by a single checker of either color is called
a blot. If an opposing checker lands on a blot, the blot is hit and placed
on the bar.
Any time
a player has one or more checkers on the bar, his first obligation is
to enter those checker(s) into the opposing home board. A checker is entered
by moving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numbers on the
rolled dice.
For example,
if a player rolls 4 and 6, he may enter a checker onto either the opponent's
four point or six point, so long as the prospective point is not occupied
by two or more of the opponent's checkers. If neither of the points is
open, the player loses his turn. If a player is able to enter some but
not all of his checkers, he must enter as many as he can and then forfeit
the remainder of his turn.
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.
Bearing
Off
Once a player has moved all of his fifteen checkers into his home board,
he may commence bearing off. A player bears off a checker by rolling a
number that corresponds to the point on which the checker resides, and
then removing that checker from the board. Thus, rolling a 6 permits the
player to remove a checker from the six point. 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.
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 first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins the game.
Doubling
Backgammon is played for an agreed stake per point. Each game starts at
one point. During the course of the game, a player who feels he has a
sufficient advantage may propose doubling the stakes. He may do this only
at the start of his own turn and before he has rolled the dice. A player
who is offered a double may refuse, in which case he concedes the game
and pays one point. Otherwise, he must accept the double and play on for
the new higher stakes. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner
of the cube and only he may make the next double. Subsequent doubles in
the same game are called redoubles.
If a player refuses a redouble, he must pay the number of points that
were at stake prior to the redouble. Otherwise, he becomes the new owner
of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous stakes. There
is no limit to the number of redoubles in a game.
Gammons and Backgammons
At the end of the game, if the losing player has borne off at least one
checker, he loses only the value showing on the doubling cube (one point,
if there have been no doubles). However, if the loser has not borne off
any of his checkers, he is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling
cube. Or, worse, if the loser has not borne off any of his checkers and
still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, he is backgammoned
and loses three times the value of the doubling cube.
