Backgammon Game Rules

Object of the Game

The object of the game is for each player to bring all his checkers into his home board, and then to bear them off the board. The first player to get all his checkers off the board is the winner.

Starting the Game

Each player has two dice and a dice cup. Each player rolls one dice. The player with the higher number makes the first move, using the two numbers from his dice and his opponent`s. In the event that both players roll the same number, each rolls another dice to determine who makes the first move.

Rolling the Dice

The players throw the dice alternately throughout the game, except in the case where a player cannot make a legal move and therefore forfeits his turn. The roll of the dice indicates how many pips the player is to move his checkers. A pip is the distance from one point to the next. If the same number appears on both dice, for example 4-4 or 6-6 (called a double) the player is entitled to four moves instead of two. Thus if he rolls 5-5 he can move up to four checkers, but each move must consist of five pips.

Rules of Rolling

• The dice must be rolled together and land flat on the surface of the right-hand section of the board. The player must re-roll both dice if a dice lands outside the right-hand board, lands on a checker or does not land flat (known as cocked dice).
• A player may try out as many moves as he likes before making his decision.
• A turn is completed when a player picks up his dice. If the play is incomplete or otherwise illegal, the opponent has the option of accepting the play or requiring the player to make a legal play. A roll is deemed to have been accepted as made when the opponent rolls his dice or offers a double to start his own turn.
• If a player rolls his dice before his opponent has completed his turn by picking up his dice, the player`s roll is voided.

Moving the Checkers

Each player`s turn begins with the roll of his two dice. He then moves one or more of his checkers in accordance with the numbers on the dice. The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves.

A checker may only be moved to an open point, one that is not occupied by two or more opposing checkers. A checker may move to a point if it is only occupied by one of the opponent`s checkers. In this case the opposing checker is "hit" and placed on the bar (see "Hitting and Entering" below).

To avoid single checkers (known as blots) becoming vulnerable to being hit a player can try to use his roll to "make a point". A player "makes a point" by positioning two or more of his checkers on it. He then "owns" that point, and his opponent cannot move a checker to that point nor touch down on it.

A player must use both numbers of a roll if it is legally possible to do so (or all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be played, the player must play that number. If either number can be moved but not both, the larger number must be played. When neither number can be played, the player loses his turn.

Hitting and Entering

A single checker on a point is a blot. If you move a checker onto an opponent`s blot, or touch down on it in the process of moving the combined total of your roll, the blot is hit and must re-enter into the opposing home table. A player may not make any other move until he has brought the checker on the bar back into play.

Re-entry must be made on a point equivalent to one of the numbers rolled by the player, providing that the point is not owned by the opponent. If he cannot enter the player loses his turn. In the case where a player has more than one checker on the bar, he must enter as many as he can and then forfeit the remainder of his turn. After the last of his checkers has been entered, any unused numbers on the dice must be played, by moving either the checker that was entered or another checker.

A player who has made all six points in his home board is said to have a closed board. If the opponent has any checkers on the bar he will not be able to re-enter them into his adversary`s home board. Therefore he forfeits his rolls, and continues to do so until the other player has to open a point in his home board, thus providing a point of entry.

Note that whilst a player may forfeit his roll he never forfeits his right to double at the start of each turn, should he have access to the doubling cube.

Bearing Off

Once a player has moved all fifteen of his checkers into his home board, he may commence "bearing off". A player bears off a checker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on which the checker resides, and then removing the checker from the board. Checkers borne off the board never re-enter play.

A player may not bear off checkers while he has a checker on the bar or outside his home board. Thus if, in the process of bearing off, a player leaves a blot and it is hit by his opponent, he must bring it back into his home board before he can recommence bearing off.

In bearing off, a player must remove checkers from points corresponding to the numbers rolled on the dice. Bearing checkers off is not mandatory, the player may move checkers within his home board if he so wishes. If the player rolls a number higher than the highest point in which he has a checker, he must apply that number to the highest occupied point.

Note also that whilst the rules require that both numbers must be played if at all possible the numbers may be played in either order.

Winning the Game

The player who bears all his checkers off first wins the game.

1. If your opponent has already borne off some of his checkers when you bear off your last checker you win a single game.
2. If you bear off all your checkers before your opponent has borne off a single checker then you win a gammon and twice the stake.
3. If you bear all your checkers off before your opponent has borne off any of his and he still has a checker either in your home board or on the bar then you win a backgammon and triple the stake.

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