How to Play Backgammon
Fifteen checkers, two dice: make your points, hit the blots, bear off first.
Backgammon is the oldest race game still played: fifteen checkers a side going round the board on two dice, in opposite directions, into their own home board and off. Hit a lone checker and it starts again from the bar; hold a point with two and nobody can land on it. Play White or Black against the computer at three levels, or online against another player. There is no doubling cube at this table — a game is one game, played for one, two or three points.
Ways to play Backgammon
Two to four at the board
Play Backgammon against the computer with one, two or three others at the board. Every seat is filled, so a game always starts.
Online with friends and family
Create a board, share the code, and play together on the same board. Online games count towards your rating and My Stats.
Picked up where you left it
Close the tab mid-game and come back to it — the game is kept in your browser, on the board you were playing.
No ads, ever
No advertising, no interruption, nothing to dismiss. The same promise as every Vanikar™ game.
🎯 Objective
Bring all fifteen of your checkers into your home board and bear them off before the other side does.
🎲 Backgammon setup
- The board is twenty-four points, twelve along each long side in two colors, with the bar down the middle. Your home board is the six points at your right-hand end.
- Each side begins with two checkers on the other side’s one-point, five on the mid-point, three on its own eight-point and five on its six-point: 167 pips to travel.
- You choose White or Black; the computer takes the other at the level you set. White moves anticlockwise, Black clockwise, and each side counts the points its own way, 1 to 24.
- Each side throws one die to open; the higher throw moves first, using both dice as thrown. A tie is thrown again.
▶ How to play Backgammon
- Roll two dice. Each die moves one checker that many points — the same checker twice if you like. A double is played four times.
- A point held by two or more of the other side’s checkers is blocked: you cannot land there.
- A single checker on a point is a blot. Land on it and it is hit: it goes to the bar and must start its journey again.
- While you have a checker on the bar nothing else of yours may move. It enters in the other side’s home board on the point the die names; if no die enters it, your turn is lost.
- You must play both dice if any way of doing so exists, and all four of a double as far as you can. If only one die can be played, it must be the larger. The board offers only the moves that keep this.
- Once every one of your checkers is in your home board you may bear off: a die that matches a checker’s distance takes it off, and a die larger than any checker needs takes off the farthest checker you have left.
- A checker hit during the bear-off goes back to the bar and must come all the way round again before you bear off any more.
🎬 Watch: How to Play Backgammon
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📖 Detailed guide
The board and the start
- Twenty-four points, twelve a side, with the bar down the middle. White’s home board is the bottom right and White moves anticlockwise round to it; Black’s home is the top right, and Black moves clockwise.
- Each side counts the points its own way, 1 to 24, with 1 the last point before off. The numbers in the frame count them your way, your home board’s in gold.
- The start is the same every game: two back checkers on the other side’s one-point, five on the mid-point, three on the eight-point and five on the six-point.
- A hit checker waits on the bar. Checkers borne off lie in the tray at the right edge, and the counts beside each name say how many pips a side has left and how many are off.
A turn
- Roll, then tap a checker and tap where it goes. Each die moves one checker that many points, and a double is played four times.
- Both dice must be played if any way exists, and all four of a double as far as they go. If only one can be played, and either could be, it must be the larger.
- A throw that cannot be played at all passes your turn by itself.
- The last two turns are written under the board in the players’ notation: 13/7 is a checker from your 13-point to your 7-point, bar/22 one entered from the bar, 6/off one borne off, and * a hit.
Hitting, the bar and bearing off
- A lone checker is a blot; land on it and it goes to the bar. Two or more on a point make it yours, and nobody can land there.
- A checker on the bar enters in the other side’s home board on the point a die names — their one-point with a one, their six-point with a six — and until it is in, nothing else of yours moves.
- Bearing off starts only when all fifteen are home. A die that matches a checker’s distance bears it off; a larger die bears off the farthest checker left; you may still move inside your home board instead.
- A checker hit while you are bearing off goes back to the bar and round again, and you bear off nothing more until it is home.
Gammons, the cap and the table
- A win is one point; a gammon, won while the loser has borne off nothing, is two; a backgammon, when the loser also has a checker on the bar or in your home board, is three.
- There is no doubling cube. A game is one game, played for its points.
- A game that reaches 2,000 tokens is settled on the pip count — the lower wins one point, equal pips draw. A real game ends long before that.
- Offline, choose your color and the computer’s level — Easy, Medium or Hard. Online, two sit at the board, and the result counts towards your rating and My Stats.
🏁 How Backgammon is won
The side that bears off its fifteenth checker wins one point — two for a gammon, when the loser has borne off nothing, and three for a backgammon, when the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner’s home board. There is no doubling cube. A game that runs to 2,000 tokens is settled on the pip count: the lower count wins one point, and equal pips are a draw.
❓ Backgammon — frequently asked questions
How many players do you need for Backgammon?
Backgammon is played by 2. Seats you do not fill are taken by the computer, so a game always starts.
Where can I play Backgammon?
In your browser at play.vanikar.games, on a computer, a tablet or a phone. Sign in with the same Vanikar™ account you use for the card games.
Is Backgammon included in my subscription?
Yes. One Card Games by Vanikar™ subscription covers the card games, Chess & Checkers and the board games, and every game released after them.
Does Backgammon have ads?
No. No Vanikar™ game has ever carried advertising, and none ever will.
Is there a doubling cube in Backgammon by Vanikar?
No. Backgammon at this table is played without the cube: a game is one game, worth 1 point, 2 for a gammon or 3 for a backgammon.
What is a gammon?
A win while the other side has borne off nothing, worth 2 points. A backgammon is a win while they also still have a checker on the bar or in your home board, worth 3.
Can a game of Backgammon be drawn?
Only by the digital table’s cap: a game that runs to 2,000 tokens is settled on the pip count, and equal pips are a draw. Over the board it never happens.
What if I cannot play my throw?
Your turn passes by itself. You must play both dice whenever any way exists, and if only one can be played it must be the larger; the board offers only the moves that keep this.