Backgammon tutorial and rules

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How to play backgammon

Text Box: History: Backgammon also known as tavli, tavla or shesh-besh, is one of the oldest games know to us that is still played today. Historians say that in Europe, it was first played somewhere in Greece but it has it's origins from the Middle East countries of Kuwait and Iraq. Backgammon is almost 5000 years old. Objective: Backgammon is a two player board-game. The object of the game is to move all of your checkers to your "home board" and to be the first to "bear off", which means to remove all of the checkers from the board. Board layout On the left half on the first triangle or point (black) there are 5 white checkers and on the 5th triangle (black) there are 3 black checkers. On the right on the first triangle (black) there are 5 black checkers and on the last triangle (white) there are 2 white checkers. On the opposite side the checkers are arranged similarly but with the opposite colours (note the colours can be whatever you wish so long as there are only two). The left side of the board from your position is your "outer board" and the right side is your "home board" and the strip separating them is known as the "bar". Basic game play: Both players have a pair of dice each, to start the game both players throws a die, and the player with the highest total goes first. Your checkers can only move counter clockwise and your opponents in the opposite direction. Upon throwing your dice you can either move one checker the sum total of the two dice or two checkers, one the sum of dice one and the other the sum of dice two However you cannot land on a triangle/point occupied by more than one of your opponents checkers! Should you roll a double 4+4 etc your total is doubled, in this case to 16 You must use both numbers of a roll if this is legally possible (or all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be played, you must play that number. Or if either number can be played but not both, you must play the higher one. When neither number can be used, you lose your turn. In the case of doubles, when all four numbers cannot be played, you must play as many numbers as possible. Hitting and Entering: A point occupied by a single checker of either colour is called a blot. If an opposing checker lands on a blot, the blot is hit and placed on the bar. Any time a player has one or more checkers on the bar, their first obligation is to enter those checker(s) into the opposing home board. A checker is entered by moving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numbers on the rolled dice. For example, if you roll 4 and 6, you can enter a checker onto either of your opponent's four point or six point, so long as the prospective point is not occupied by two or more of your opponent's checkers. If neither of the points is open, you lose your turn. If you are able to enter some but not all of your checkers, you must enter as many as you can and then forfeit the remainder of your turn. After the last of your checkers have been entered, any unused numbers on the dice must be played, by moving either the checker that was entered or another. Bearing Off Once you have got all fifteen checkers into your home board, you may begin bearing off. Bear off a checker by rolling a number that matches the point where the checker resides, then you can remove it from the board. So, rolling a 3 means you can remove a checker from the 3 point. If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, you must make a legal move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. If there are no checkers on higher-numbered points, you are permitted (and must) remove a checker from the highest point on which one of your checkers resides on. You are under no obligation to bear off if you can make any other legal move. You must have all of your active checkers on your home board to bear off. If a checker is hit during the bear-off process, you must bring that checker back to your home board before continuing to bear off. The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers is the winner. Playing for cash: When Backgammon is played for an agreed wager (or number of points in the tournament play). During the course of the game, a player, who feels he or she has a sufficient advantage, may propose doubling the game sum. He or she may do so only at the start of the turn and before the dice are rolled. A player, who is offered a double, may refuse. In such case, he concedes the game and pays the original wager. Otherwise, he must accept the double and keep playing for the new higher sum. A player, who accepts a double, becomes the owner of the Doubling cube a ( cube with the numerals 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 on its faces, is used to keep track of the current stake of the game) and only that player may make the next double. Subsequent doubles in the same game are called redoubles. If a player refuses a redouble, he must pay the wager that was at the sum involved prior to the redouble. Otherwise, he becomes the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous sum involved. Redoubles can increase the original wager by up to 64 times. Gammons and Backgammons: At the end of the game, if the losing player has bourne off at least one checker, he loses only the value showing on the doubling cube (the original wager or one point if there have been no doubles). However, if the loser has yet to bear off any of his checkers, he or she is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling cube. Moreover, if the loser has not bourne off any of his or her checkers and still has a checker on the bar or in the winners' home board, he or she is backgammoned and loses three times the value of the doubling cube.

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