Backgammon Rules Variations

Introduction

Most of the backgammon rules are well understood and never disputed. The game is one of total information, unlike poker or bridge, so there is very little opportunity for misunderstanding or, thankfully, cheating. It is very difficult, though not impossible, to control the numbers that you roll.

In this article I am going to look at the few contentious areas of the game. The two areas that create more problems for players than any others are ' legal plays ' and ' premature rolls' so we`ll start with those.

Legal Plays

The backgammon rules state that you must play the numbers that you roll. But what if you misread the dice, play the wrong numbers and pick up your dice? The formal rules say that your opponent can condone, i.e. accept, the play or he can require you to replay your move, this time making a legal play.

As an example look at this position:

Black rolls 64 and thinking he is on the bar, picks up his dice without moving any checkers.
Red has every right to just roll the dice and play on despite the fact that black has just wasted one of his best rolls.

Several clubs and tournament directors play what is known as `legal moves only`. In this variation of backgammon rule, the players must only make legal plays and they must point out illegal plays to each other and indeed any spectators are also allowed to point out illegal plays to either player.

Personally, I much prefer this version of the rues as I believe it leads to a fairer game.

Premature Rolls

The other area of contention is ' premature rolls '.
This happens when one player rolls his dice before the other player has completed his move. Does the roll stand or must the offending player re-roll when the first player completes his move?

Both variations are used in money and tournament backgammon games . If the roll stands, the opponent can get a huge advantage. Consider this position:

Black is just deciding whether to pick and pass with 10/5*/3 or be bold with 10/5*, 13/11 when red prematurely rolls 43. Now black knows he can make the bold play.

This area is more difficult because an opponent who consistently rolls too soon is very annoying. I have a slight preference for voiding all premature rolls and making the player re-roll. The only exception should be in the bear-off when no further contact is possible. In this case premature rolls should be allowed to stand.

Just make sure you know which backgammon variation you are playing before you start.

Doubles

One other area of that we find variations is with the backgammon rule of doubling cube . For the moment we will ignore chouettes , which we will treat as a separate subject, and only consider head to head play.

Automatic Doubles

At the start of the game if both players roll the same number you have to decide whether to automatically double the stakes. Quite often one automatic is agreed but if both players roll the same number again then the stakes are not increased any further (but by prior agreement the automatic can be carried over to the next game). Unlimited automatics belong to the 1970`s which is where they originated. Years ago I was playing for only twenty pence a point when a game started with 7 automatics - suddenly I was playing for £12.80!!

Again, make sure you know what the rules are before you sit down to play .

Beaver

In money play (never in tournaments) it is common to play beavers. A beaver occurs when you believe that your opponent has doubled you in a position where you believe you are actually the favourite to win the game. In this case you can turn the cube to the next level (if you are being doubled to 2 you beaver to 4) and you keep the cube on your side of the board.

Raccoon

Raccoons are backgammon rules very rarely played but they can certainly add to the excitement! If the original doubler things his double was correct and the beaver was wrong he can raccoon the beaver to 8!!

Aardvark

Virtually extinct backgammon rule ! The person who beavered the original double aardvarks the raccoon to 16!

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