Backgammon

Backgammon – Roll the Dice, Hit Blots, and Bear Off Your Checkers First

Backgammon is a two-player strategy board game where each side moves 15 checkers around a 24-point board according to two dice. Your objective is to bring every checker into your home board and then bear them off before your opponent. Dice determine how far you can move, but decisions about blocking points, leaving exposed checkers, hitting opponents, and choosing how to use each roll determine how efficiently you complete the race.

How Backgammon Works

Both players begin with 15 checkers arranged in fixed starting positions. They travel around the board in opposite directions toward their respective home boards. Each turn uses the values shown on two dice to determine the available movement.

A checker can move onto an empty point, a point occupied by your own pieces, or a point occupied by exactly one opposing checker. You cannot land on a point containing two or more opposing checkers.

The first player to move all 15 checkers into the home board and successfully remove every checker from the board wins.

How to Play Backgammon

1. Roll the two dice: The numbers determine the movements available during your turn.
2. Select a legal checker: Choose a piece that can move according to one of the rolled values.
3. Use the dice: The two values can normally be applied to separate moves or combined through consecutive legal moves by the same checker.
4. Move only to open points: Empty points, your own occupied points, and points containing one opposing checker are available destinations.
5. Hit exposed opponents: Landing on a point with exactly one enemy checker sends that checker to the bar.
6. Re-enter from the bar first: If one of your checkers has been hit, you must return it to the board before moving other checkers.
7. Build your home board: Continue moving every checker toward your final six points.
8. Begin bearing off: Once all 15 checkers are inside your home board, dice rolls can be used to remove them.
9. Remove all 15 first: The first player to bear off the complete set wins.

Backgammon Controls

• Left mouse button: Roll the dice, select checkers, and make available moves.

The Code This Lab browser version uses mouse-based interaction throughout the game. Its Classic Backgammon edition includes play against the computer and local play against a friend.

Understanding the Two Dice

Each die represents a separate movement value. If you roll 3 and 5, for example, you can potentially move one checker three points and another five points, or move the same checker through two legal movements totaling eight.

The intermediate position still matters when one checker uses both values. You cannot treat the total as one unrestricted move if one of the required landing points is blocked.

Standard backgammon rules also require you to use both dice when legal moves are available. If only one value can legally be played, you use the move that the rules allow.

What Happens When You Roll Doubles?

Rolling identical numbers gives you four moves of that value instead of two. A roll of 4-4 therefore provides four separate four-point movements, assuming the board position allows all of them.

Doubles can produce major changes because they provide twice the usual number of movements. They can help you escape dangerous positions, build several protected points, advance a group of checkers, or remove multiple pieces during bearing off.

Open Points, Made Points, and Blots

A point occupied by two or more of your checkers is protected from an opposing checker landing there. Building these protected positions can restrict the opponent's available movement.

A point containing only one checker is called a blot. Blots are vulnerable because an opposing checker can land on them and send the exposed piece to the bar.

This creates an important tradeoff. Spreading individual checkers can give you more movement options, but too many exposed blots can give your opponent several opportunities to hit you.

Hitting an Opponent and Using the Bar

If your checker lands on a blot, the opposing checker is hit and moved to the central bar. A player with a checker on the bar cannot continue moving ordinary pieces until the captured checker has successfully re-entered the board.

Re-entry uses the dice and the opponent's home board. The checker must enter through a corresponding open point. A destination occupied by two or more enemy checkers is blocked and cannot be used. If neither rolled value provides a legal entry, the player cannot make another move during that turn.

Because of this rule, hitting a blot can do more than send one checker backward. A strong home-board structure can make that checker difficult to re-enter, costing the opponent valuable turns.

How Bearing Off Works

You can begin bearing off only when all 15 of your active checkers are inside your home board. If a checker is later hit and moved to the bar, it must re-enter and return to the home board before bearing off can continue.

A checker can normally be removed when a die matches the point it occupies. For example, a 6 can bear off a checker from the six-point. If you roll higher than your highest occupied point and no checker remains on a higher point, the rules allow you to remove a checker from the highest occupied point instead.

The first player to remove all 15 checkers wins the game.

Backgammon Strategy Tips

Protect Important Points With Two Checkers

A single checker can be hit, while a point holding two or more of your checkers cannot be occupied by the opponent. Building protected points reduces your exposure and can interfere with the opponent's route.

Do Not Leave Blots Without a Reason

An exposed checker may be worth the risk when it creates a valuable position or advances your race, but unnecessary blots give the opponent easy hitting opportunities. Before finishing a move, check how many opposing checkers could reach the exposed point on their next roll.

Use Hits That Also Improve Your Position

Hitting an opponent is useful, but not every available hit is equally strong. Prefer moves that send an enemy checker to the bar while also creating a protected point or moving your own pieces closer to home.

Build Several Consecutive Protected Points

Because an opponent cannot land on a point containing two or more of your checkers, multiple protected points can restrict their movement significantly. This becomes especially valuable when an opponent has a checker waiting on the bar.

Use Doubles Efficiently

Doubles provide four movements. Before making the first one, inspect how all four can work together. A rushed first move can block a stronger sequence that would have used every available movement.

Watch the Race Before Taking Extra Risks

If your checkers are already farther along and there is little contact remaining between the two sides, reducing unnecessary blots can be more valuable than searching for aggressive hits. When you are behind, creating contact and hitting opportunities may matter more.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Leaving too many single checkers exposed: Blots can be hit and sent to the bar.
• Trying to land on a blocked point: Two or more enemy checkers prevent you from occupying that position.
• Moving ordinary checkers while one is on the bar: Re-entry takes priority.
• Treating both dice as one unrestricted number: Each movement must pass through legal positions.
• Forgetting that doubles give four moves: Plan the complete sequence before committing to the first movement.
• Bearing off before every checker reaches home: All active checkers must first be inside your home board.

Similar Games to Backgammon

If you enjoy Backgammon's mix of dice, board positioning, and forward planning, try these games available on YaloGames:

• Snakes and Ladders: Continue with dice-based board gameplay in a simpler race where ladders advance your piece and snakes send it backward.
• 2048: Replace dice with a number puzzle where every move changes the board and affects your future options.
• Trap the Cat: A board-style strategy puzzle where you place barriers and plan several moves ahead to prevent an escape.
• 8 Ball Pool: Try another head-to-head game where planning the current move around the position it leaves for the next one is important.

For another dice-based board game, start with Snakes and Ladders. If you prefer the strategic side of Backgammon, 2048 and Trap the Cat put more emphasis on planning future positions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many checkers does each player have in Backgammon?

Each player begins with 15 checkers and attempts to move all of them around the 24-point board and off the board before the opponent.

What happens when a checker is hit?

A checker hit while sitting alone on a point is placed on the bar. Its owner must re-enter that checker into the opponent's home board before making normal moves with other pieces.

Can you move onto a point with two opposing checkers?

No. A point containing two or more opposing checkers is closed to your pieces.

What happens when you roll doubles?

You play the rolled number four times. For example, 5-5 gives you four five-point movements when all four can legally be used.

Who developed this browser version of Backgammon?

The Classic Backgammon browser game described here was created by Code This Lab. Its documented modes include playing against the computer and challenging a friend locally.

Plan Every Roll in Backgammon

Backgammon combines unpredictable dice with decisions you can control. Strong play comes from protecting useful points, limiting unnecessary blots, recognizing valuable hits, re-entering efficiently after a capture, and planning how both dice work together before moving. Get all 15 checkers into your home board, manage the bearing-off stage carefully, and remove your final checker before your opponent to win.