HOW TO PLAY
Backgammon is a game for two players. The game is played on a board consisting of 24 triangles, or points. The board is divided into two halves, one home board and one outer board. Between the halves is a dividing ridge called the bar. The players each receive 15 checkers and two dice.

The board with the checkers in starting positions.



The players select their colour and throw one die each to decide who starts. The player who rolls the highest number uses his own roll and that of his opponent for the first move. If both players roll the same number, they reroll the dice. After the first move, the players each roll both dice normally. The numbers on the dice tells you how many steps, or points, the player can move his checkers. The players can move one or two checkers per move. If the player rolls a three and a five, he can move one checker eight pips or one checker three pips and the other five pips. The checkers of the two players move in opposite directions. The players move their checkers from their opponent's home board to the opponent's outer board and onwards through their own outer board into their own home board.

When a player has succeeded in moving all his checkers into his own home board, it is time to move them off the board, or bear off. The checkers are removed in accordance with the numbers on the dice. For example, if the player rolls a four and a one, the player can remove one checker from point four and one from point one. It is allowed to move the checkers inside your own home board. It is good to have your checkers placed on the lower points as you are allowed to bear off a checker from the nearest lower point. If the player rolls a four with no checkers on point four, five or six, he can bear off from point three. The player can use one die to bear off and the other to move checkers inside his home board. The player to first bear off all his checkers wins the game. At the start of the game, there are already five checkers on the home board. The goal is to move all your checkers to the home board. One you have succeeded in doing so you can start bearing off. This is also called throwing off. The player to first bear off all of his 15 checkers is the winner. Below, you find some examples and tips on how to play: You have all your checkers in the home board and you roll a six and a two. You can bear off the checkers on points six and two. If you roll two fours, you double the number. In this case, it means that you can bear off four checkers from point four. You must always use the numbers of both dice. In this example, you roll a six and a one, but you have no checker on point six. What do you do then? Then you must bear off a checker from the nearest lower point, i.e. from point five. If there were no checkers on point five, you bear off from point four, etc. You must always go in descending order – you cannot take checkers from any point. Let us assume that you have one checker each on points six, five, four and three. Now, if you were to roll double sixes on your next roll, it is possible to bear off all four checkers. The checker on point six is borne off with the first six. The other six is used to bear off the checker on the next lower point; point five. Then you bear off the checkers on points four and three. You can prevent a single checker being left alone on a point (a blot) in your home board by moving the checkers wisely. In this example you have two checkers on point six, one checker on point five, one on point four and two checkers each on points two and one. You roll a two and a one. You first reaction might be to bear off one checker from point two and another from point one. However, that would leave you with two blots. Therefore, it would be a wiser move to move the checkers on point six, in order to block four points for your opponent. Backgammon and poker have a lot in common. Several well-known poker players are also very good at backgammon. Gus Hansen, Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington, Abe Mosseri and Paul Magriel (aka X-22) are a few of the famous names in poker who are also excellent backgammon players. On TV and the Internet, poker tournaments are common and attract a large number of followers. Backgammon on TV and the Internet will, in all probability, follow in the wake of poker and become just as spectator-friendly and popular. There was a huge backgammon revival in the seventies. People started playing backgammon in restaurants and nightclubs. Its popularity has not waned and well-known actors such as Tobey Maguire (Spiderman), Leonard DiCaprio and Nicole Kidman all play backgammon. Backgammon and poker have many things in common but of course there are some differences. In poker, there is always a certain amount of uncertainty because you can never know for certain what your opponents are holding. When you play backgammon on the other hand, you have all the information about your opponent's checkers right in front of you on the board. You benefit enormously by mathematically analyzing every move when you play backgammon. When you are playing poker, you have to be able to read your opponents and draw conclusions about your next move based on your experience. One significant difference between backgammon and poker is that in poker, you have a clear advantage if you know how to bluff. For that reason, many poker players enjoy the change of playing backgammon, as bluffing is less important. Another thing the backgammon-playing poker player appreciates is that backgammon is a game of constant action, as it is only played between two players. When you balance the similarities and differences between backgammon and poker it becomes apparent that the two games complement each other. If you play poker, why not try your hand at backgammon? If you are a backgammon player who never played poker – try a hand of poker!
RULES
The lighter checkers move clockwise and the darker checkers counter-clockwise.
The players can move their checkers to points where there are no other checkers, as well as to points with one or more of the player's own checkers. The players cannot sit on points where the opponent has more than one checker. If a lone checker sits on a point, the opponent can hit it and knock it off. The knocked off checker is placed on the bar, the ridge dividing the two halves of the board. In order to continue playing, the player must enter the checker again. The player can enter the knocked off checker by rolling a number that corresponds to an empty point in the opponent's home board.

If a player rolls a double, e.g. two fours, the number on the die is multiplied by four. Thus two fours mean that the player can move a total of 16 steps. The player chooses how to combine the moves. For example, one checker can be moved 16 pips, or two checkers can each move eight pips. The player must use all available pips to move his checkers, the rest is ///voided. If it is possible to move the checkers as many pips as either of the two numbers on the dice shows separately, but not both numbers together, the player must move in accordance with the highest number. During the course of the game, both players can make use of the doubling cube. One player can demand to double the stakes and turn the cube to display the number two. If the opponent accepts, play continues. If the opponent does not accept the doubling, he loses the game and the player who demanded the doubling wins by one point. If the play continues, only the player who accepted the first doubling is able to demand a new doubling, i.e. raise it from two to four, next time. Doublings can be made up to 64 – the highest number on the cube. In backgammon, you play for predetermined stakes. If you are playing in a tournament, you play for points. At the start of the game, the doubling cube can be used by either player. If you gain an advantage during the game, you should consider using the doubling cube. If you decide to use the doubling cube, you can only double when it is your turn to roll and only before you roll the dice. The doubling cube is turned to display the number two and is placed on your opponent's side to indicate your opponent's right to the next doubling. By doubling, you force your opponent to either fold and award the victory to you, or to accept that the stakes are now doubled, or two points. Thus, if the opponent accepts the doubling, he holds the cube and only he can make the next doubling. The right of the players to double continues up to 64, which is the highest number on the cube. You can win in three different ways: Single If the loser has managed to bear off at least one of his checkers, the winner gets one point, or whatever the doubling cube is showing. Gammon If the loser does not succeed in bearing off any of his checkers the winner's points are doubled. Backgammon If the loser has not managed to bear in all of his checkers into his home board and still has checkers on the bar or in the winner's home board, the winner's points are doubled.