Backgammon Rules - Getting Started

The main aim of the game of Backgammon is for each player to bring all of his checkers into his home board, and then to bear them off the board. The first player to do this wins the game. Backgammon is played on a board with four quadrangles and 24 narrow triangles called points. Each quadrant has six triangles each. The triangles alternate in color. The four groups are known as home board and outer board one for each player. A line running through the centre is called the bar and divided the board into half. Each player starts with 15 stones of one color that are placed along the 24 points of the board. All points on a backgammon board are distinguished by numbers. A players' outermost point is the twenty-four point, which is also his opponent's one point. A doubling cube with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64, is used to keep track of the current stake of the game.

Getting started - each player rolls a single dice to determine who plays first. The player with the higher number gets the first chance. Suggestions for how to play your opening backgammon moves can be found on the HomeBackgammon.com site.If both players play the same number, they roll again to decide the higher number. After the first roll, the players throw both dice and take turns to play. The roll of the dice shows how many points a player can move. Stones are always moved forward, to a lower-numbered point and can only be moved to an open point. The numbers on the two dice denote separate moves. A player who rolls doubles plays the numbers shown on the dice twice. The player may move any combination he finds apt to complete the requirement. A player must use both numbers of a roll if legally possible or all 4 numbers in the case of a double roll.

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The rule is that when only one number can be played, the player must play that number. If either number can be played, but not both, he must play the higher one. When either number cannot be used, a player loses his turn.