Backgammon

Tips for Backgammon

In Backgammon, a single checker on its own is a blot, and if your opponent lands on it, it goes to the bar and has to enter again before you may move anything else. Leaving blots is the most common mistake, so where you can, move checkers so that the points you hold have two or more on them, which also shuts those points to the other side. Six points in a row make a prime that nothing gets past, so building blocked points next to each other is a strong plan when the dice allow it.

Keep an eye on the pip count at the top to see who is ahead in the race. Remember that doubles give you four moves, and that once every checker is home you can bear off from a lower point with a higher die when nothing sits further out. Start against Easy, ask for a hint when a roll is awkward and undo freely within your turn while you learn. Normal hates leaving blots and Sharp looks a roll ahead, so move up once the rules feel natural.

How to play Backgammon

Backgammon is a race for two. Each side has fifteen checkers, and the goal is to bring all of them round the board into your home board and then off it before your opponent does. On your turn you roll two dice and move by the numbers shown: one checker for each die, or one checker for both. A double gives you four moves instead of two, and you must use the dice if there is any legal way to do so.

You may not land on a point held by two or more of your opponent's checkers. A point with a single checker on it is a blot, and if you land there, that checker is hit and goes to the bar. A player with a checker on the bar must enter it again before moving anything else. Six held points in a row make a prime that nothing can pass.

Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you start bearing off: take a checker off from the point matching a die, or from a lower point with a higher die when no checker sits further out. The first to bear off all fifteen wins the game. A normal win scores one point, a gammon two and a backgammon three, and a match runs to three, five or seven points, with the doubling cube if you choose to play with it. On a phone or tablet, tap a checker and then a highlighted point, or drag it. On a computer, Space rolls and confirms your move and U undoes. P pauses and M mutes.

About Backgammon

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games still played, a descendant of the race games played with dice and counters in the ancient world, and it remains a fixture of cafes, clubs and family tables. Its mix of luck and judgement is what keeps it going: the dice decide what you may do, but you decide how to use them, and over a match the better player usually comes out ahead.

Kiloo's Backgammon plays the full rules, with entering from the bar, hitting, primes, gammons, backgammons and the doubling cube, on a folding walnut board with felt points and ivory and ebony checkers. It suits newcomers and experienced players alike. While you learn, you can tap a checker to see where it may go, undo anything inside your own turn and ask for a hint, and the Easy opponent is relaxed about its moves. Normal counts pips and avoids leaving blots, and Sharp looks a roll ahead across all twenty-one dice combinations. You can also play a friend on the same device and pick a match length that suits the time you have.

Frequently asked questions