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Backgammon |
How to play Backgammon game
Backgammon is a simple game with
deep strategic elements. It does not take long to learn to play,
although obscure situations do arise which require careful
interpretation of the rules. The playing time for each individual game
is short, so it is often played in matches, for example the first to
five points. Game and match are used in Backgammon to refer to these
distinct elements, as in, "I won two games in a row, but then she won
three in a row and I lost the match, three points to two."
In short, players are trying to get all of their pieces past their
opponent's pieces. This is difficult because the pieces are scattered at
first, and may be blocked or captured by the opponent's pieces.
Each side of the board has a track of twelve adjacent spaces, called
points and usually represented by long triangles of alternating (but
meaningless) color. The tracks are imagined to be connected across the
break in the middle and on just one edge of the board, making a
continuous line (but not a circle) of twenty-four points. The points are
numbered from 1 to 24, with checkers always moving from higher-numbered
points to lower-numbered points. The two players move their checkers in
opposite directions, so the 1-point for one player is the 24-point for
the other. Some recorded games, however, keep the numbering of the
points constant from the perspective of one player.
Each player begins with two checkers on his 24-point, three checkers on
his 8-point, and five checkers each on his 13-point and his 6-point.
Note that the board as shown can be flipped horizontally, with starting
positions and direction of play likewise flipped but with no changes to
the mechanics of gameplay. The two orientations are equally common and
game boards are all designed to be played both ways.
A checker may land on any point occupied by no checkers or by friendly
checkers. Also it may land on a point occupied by exactly one enemy
checker (a lone piece is called a blot). In the latter case the blot has
been hit, and is temporarily placed in the middle of the board on the
bar, i.e., the divider between the home boards and the outfields. A
checker may never land on a point occupied by two or more enemy
checkers. Thus no point is ever occupied by checkers from both players
at the same time.
Points one to six, where the player wants to get his pieces to, are
called the home board or inner board. A player may not bear off any
checkers unless all of his checkers are in his home board. Points seven
to twelve are called the outer board, points thirteen to eighteen are
the opponent's outer board, and points nineteen to twenty-four are the
opponent's home board. The 7-point is often referred to as the bar point
and the 13-point as the mid point.
If a player has no legal moves after rolling the dice, because all of
the points to which he might move are occupied by two or more enemy
checkers, he forfeits his turn. However, a player must play both dice if
it is possible. If he has a legal move for one die only, he must make
that move and then forfeit the use of the other die. (If he has a legal
move for either die, but not both, he must play the higher number.)
At the start of the game, each player rolls one die. Whoever rolls
higher starts his first turn using the numbers on the already-rolled
dice. In case of a tie, the players roll again. The players alternate
turns and roll two dice at the beginning of each turn after the first.
After rolling the dice a player must, if possible, move checkers the
number of points showing on each die. For example, if he rolls a 6 and a
3, he must move one checker six points forward and another one three
points forward. The dice may be played in either order. The same checker
may be moved twice as long as the two moves are distinct: six and then
three, or three and then six, but not nine all at once.
If a player rolls two of the same number (doubles) he must play each die
twice. For example, upon rolling a 5 and a 5, he must play four checkers
forward five spaces each. As before, a checker may be moved multiple
times as long as the moves are distinct.
A checker borne off from a lower point than indicated on the die still
counts as the full die. For instance, suppose a player has only one
checker on his 2-point and two checkers on his 1-point. Then on rolling
1-2, he may move the checker from the 2-point to the 1-point (using the
1 rolled), and then bear off from the 1-point (using the 2 rolled). He
is not required to maximize the use of his rolled 2 by bearing off from
the 2-point.
Checkers on the bar re-enter the game through the opponent's home field.
A roll of 1 allows the checker to enter on the 24-point, a roll of 2 on
the 23-point, etc. A player with one or more checkers on the bar may not
move any other checkers until all of the checkers on the bar have
re-entered the opponent's home field.
When all of a player's checkers are in his home board, he may remove
them from the board, or bear them off. A roll of 1 may be used to bear
off a checker from the 1-point, a 2 from the 2-point, etc. A number may
not be used to bear off checkers from a lower point unless there are no
checkers on any higher points. For example, a 4 may be used to bear off
a checker from the 3-point only if there are no checkers on the 4-, 5-,
and 6-points.
If one player has not borne off any checkers by the time his opponent
has borne off all fifteen, he has lost a gammon, which counts for twice
a normal loss. If a player has not borne off any checkers, and still has
checkers on the bar, or in his opponent's home board by the time his
opponent has borne off all fifteen, or both, he has lost a backgammon,
which counts for triple a normal loss. Sometimes a distinction is made
between pieces in the opponent's home board (triple loss) and pieces on
the bar (quadruple loss).
The doubling cube
To speed up match play and to increase the intensity of play and the
need for strategy, a doubling cube is usually used. A doubling cube is a
6 sided die that instead of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on it, has the
numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 on it. If a player believes his position to
be superior he may, before rolling the dice on his turn, double, i.e.,
demand that the game be played for twice the current stakes. The
doubling cube is placed with the 2 side face up to show that the game's
value has been doubled. His opponent must either accept the challenge or
resign the game on the spot. Thereafter the right to redouble (double
again) belongs exclusively to the player who last accepted a double. If
this occurs, the cube is placed with the face of the next power of 2
showing.
The game rarely is redoubled beyond 4 times the original stake, but
there is no theoretical limit on the number of doubles. Even though 64
is the highest number on the doubling cube, the stakes may rise to 128,
256, 512 and so on.
Automatic doubles
When automatic doubles are used, any re-rolls that players must make at
the very start of a game (when each player rolls one die) have the
side-effect of causing a double. Thus, a 3-3 roll, followed by a re-roll
of 5-5, followed by a re-roll of 1-4 that begins the game in earnest,
will cause the game to be played from the start with 4-times normal
stakes. The doubling cube stays in the middle, with both players having
access to it. The Jacoby Rule is still in effect.
Automatic doubles are common in money games (upon agreement). They are
never used in match play.
Known variant - all same but 6-6 triples rather than doubles stakes.
Crawford Rule
The Crawford Rule makes match play much more fair for the player in the
lead. If a player is one point away from winning a match, his opponent
has no reason not to double; after all, a win in the game by the player
in the lead would cause him to win the match regardless of the doubled
stakes, while a win by the opponent would benefit twice as much if the
stakes are double. Thus there is no advantage towards winning the match
to being one point shy of winning, if one's opponent is two points shy!
To remedy this situation, the Crawford Rule requires that when a player
becomes one single point short of winning the match, neither player may
use the doubling cube for a single game, called the Crawford Game. As
soon as the Crawford Game is over, any further games use the doubling
cube normally.
Not quite as universal as the Jacoby Rule, the Crawford Rule is widely
used and generally assumed to be in effect for match play.
Beavers
A common rule allows beavers - the right for a player to immediately
redouble when offered the doubling cube, while retaining the cube
instead of giving it back up. (The redouble must be called before the
originally doubling player rolls the dice.) In this way, the stakes of
the game can rise dramatically.
Beavers are commonly allowed when backgammon is played for money game by
game, and usually not allowed in matches.
Jacoby Rule
The Jacoby Rule makes gammons and backgammons count for their respective
double and triple points only if there has been at least one use of the
doubling cube in the game. This encourages a player with a large lead in
a game to double, and thus likely end the game, rather than see the game
out to its conclusion in hopes of a gammon or backgammon. The Jacoby
Rule is widely used in money play, but is not used in match play. |