Backgammon
Press to roll the dice
- Category
- Board
- Players
- 1-2
- Controls
- Click / Tap
- Dice
- Two, doubles count four
About this game
Backgammon is one of the oldest games still played, with ancestors going back thousands of years. Each player has fifteen checkers, and the dice tell you how far you may move them. The goal is to bring all of yours around the board into your home quarter and then bear them off. First to clear all fifteen wins.
Luck and skill share the board in a way few games manage. The dice are random, but a strong player extracts far more from the same rolls than a weak one, mostly through when to race, when to block, and how much risk to accept leaving a checker exposed. Over a single game the dice matter; over ten, the better player wins.
Controls
| Roll | Throw the two dice to get your movement numbers. |
| Click a checker, then a point | Move that checker the distance shown on a die. |
| Doubles | Rolling a pair lets you make that move four times. |
| New game | Reset to the standard starting position. |
Tips & strategy
Make points rather than scattering checkers. Two checkers on the same point form a block your opponent cannot land on, and a wall of consecutive made points can trap their checkers completely. A row of six is a prime, and it is the most powerful structure in the game.
A lone checker on a point is a blot, and if your opponent lands on it, it is sent all the way back to the start. Early on, some risk is fine because a hit costs little. As checkers advance into your home board, an exposed blot becomes far more expensive, so cover them.
Know when you are in a race and when you are in a battle. If the checkers have passed each other and can no longer be hit, stop playing safe and simply move as efficiently as possible. Wasting pips on cautious play in a pure race is how won games are lost.
Use the bar point and your five point early. Those are the most valuable points to make because they do the most to block your opponent escaping from your home board. Rolls that let you make them are usually worth prioritising over pushing a back checker forward.
Questions
What does rolling doubles do?
You play the number four times instead of twice. Rolling double fives, for example, gives you four moves of five.
What happens when I get hit?
A single checker that an opponent lands on goes to the bar and must re-enter from the far side of the board before you do anything else.
How do I bear off?
Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home quarter, you can start removing them with your rolls. Clear all fifteen to win.
Is it mostly luck?
Over one game the dice have a real say, but skill dominates across several games. Position and risk decisions compound.