Backgammon

How to play

Bear off all fifteen checkers first; the finished single game scores one point for a normal win, two for a gammon, or three for a backgammon.

• Both players receive the standard fifteen-checker arrangement on twenty-four points. A deterministic opening roll assigns the first player and supplies that turn's two numbers; later doubles provide four plays.
• Move by an unused die toward your home board, entering every checker from the bar before moving another. A point with two opposing checkers is blocked, while a single blot is hit to the bar. When legal, use both dice; if only one of two different numbers can be played, use the higher. Bear off only after all fifteen checkers reach home, with restricted overshoots.
• Bear off all fifteen checkers first; the finished single game scores one point for a normal win, two for a gammon, or three for a backgammon.

Strategy tips

• Balance racing progress against safety, make valuable blocking points in connected formations, split back checkers before they become trapped, and compare every dice order because the first play can determine whether the second remains legal.
• Choosing either die independently is not always permitted: the rules require the maximum number of playable dice and then the higher die when only one number can be used, while checkers on the bar take absolute priority.
• During bear-off, minimize wasted pips without leaving avoidable gaps, preserve legal uses for both dice, and switch from contact tactics to exact racing counts only after the last opposing hit is impossible.