Backgammon Rules

On this page
  1. The board
  2. Starting position
  3. The opening roll
  4. Moving checkers
  5. Hitting and entering
  6. Bearing off
  7. Winning and scoring

Backgammon is a race between two players, each with fifteen checkers. You win by moving all of your checkers into your home board and then removing them from the board before your opponent does. The rules fit on a single page, yet the game rewards years of study. Because a single game is short, players often compete in matches, for example the first to reach 5 or 7 points.

The board

The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, arranged in four quarters of six. The colors of the triangles alternate only to help the eye; they have no meaning. A bar down the middle separates the two halves.

Each player numbers the points from his own point of view, 1 to 24, and always moves from higher numbers toward lower ones. Your 1-point is your opponent's 24-point, so the two sides travel in opposite directions, like two cars passing on a horseshoe-shaped road.

A board can be set up with the home board on the left or on the right. Both layouts are common and the rules do not change.

Starting position

Each player places two checkers on his 24-point, five on his 13-point (the midpoint), three on his 8-point and five on his 6-point. Counted together, that is 167 pips each player still has to travel.

The opening roll

Each player rolls one die. The higher number moves first and plays the two numbers already showing. If the dice tie, both roll again. After the opening move, players take turns rolling both dice.

Moving checkers

Each die is a separate move. With 5-2 you may move one checker five points and another two points, or one checker seven points in total, as long as the point it touches in between is open. A point is open if it is empty, holds your own checkers, or holds just one opposing checker. A point with two or more opposing checkers is blocked.

A roll of doubles is played four times: 4-4 gives four moves of four points each.

You must use both numbers whenever the position allows it. If only one number can be played, you play that one. If either number could be played, but not both, you must play the larger. If neither can be played, you lose the turn.

Hitting and entering

A single checker alone on a point is called a blot. If your opponent lands on it, the blot is hit and goes onto the bar. A player with a checker on the bar must bring it back into the game before making any other move. It enters in the opponent's home board: a roll of 1 enters on the 24-point, a 2 on the 23-point, and so on. If both numbers land on blocked points, the turn is lost. Our page on backgammon probability shows how hard entering gets as the home board closes.

Bearing off

Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you may start removing them. A 6 removes a checker from the 6-point, a 3 from the 3-point, and so on. You may also use a number to move a checker inside the home board instead. If the number rolled is higher than your highest occupied point, you may bear off from that highest point. If a checker is hit during the bear-off, it must re-enter and come all the way home before you can bear off again.

Winning and scoring

In match play these values are multiplied by the doubling cube. Once you know the rules, move on to basic strategy, or look up any unfamiliar word in the glossary.