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Backgammon Rules
The board layout is divided down the center by a partition, called bar. There is an outer and inner/home board for every player. The side nearest you is your outer and home board. The side furthest away is your opponent's outer and home boards.
your object in backgammon is to bring your checkers into your home base; then to bear them off from the board. The first player to bear off all of his 15 checkers wins that game.
To start the game, each player rolls a die (some rules refer to rolling both dice). The player with the higher number makes the first move. If both players roll the same number, the players roll again. In some games, the stake is automatically doubled every time the players cast the same number - others limit the automatic double to one.
The custom is to cast the dice in the player's right-hand board. There are some particular conditions for the roll to be legal. The cubes have to land flat on your homebase or outerbase, otherwise, you roll both again.
The doubling cube can be played since the beginning of the game. before using it, the cube show the "64" number, indicating the cube hasn't played yet.
When a player think he has any advantage over the other player, he may use the doubling cube to double the stake.
In this case, the player put it in a way that the "2" number is shown and offers the double to the other player.
he, then, can decline the double, forfeiting the game and loosing one stake. Or accept the double, and the game continues with the stake twice as high. The player who accepts the double 'owns' the cube. only he now has the option to re-double at any time during the remainder of the game. However, the original doubler may not.
If, later in the game, they exercise this option, their opponent is faced with the same choice. They may decline the re-double and lose 2 stakes; or accept and play for four-times the original stake. A player can double when they are on the bar.
Each player's turn is the roll of two dice. They then move one or more pieces according to the numbers cast.
Moving two checkers, any according to one die, or moving one piece the total shown on the two dice (there are two moves actually being made, as each move is made according to the number shown on one die)
If the same number appears on both dice, the player who cast is entitled to four moves, not two. The player plays the two same numbers and then playing them again.
The players cast and play alternately throughout the game; with the exception of when a player cannot make a legal move when they, therefore, forfeit their turn.
A player makes a point by having two or more of their pieces on that point, therefore 'owning' it. Their opponent cannot come to rest on nor touch down on that point when taking the combined total of their dice with a single checker.
A single piece on a point is a blot. If a player moves a piece onto an opponent's blot or touches down on it while moving the combined total of their cast, the blot is hit, the piece is moved from the board and put on the bar. A piece that has been hit must return to play in the opponent's home board. The player may not make any other move until they have brought the piece on the bar back into play. To re-enter, the piece is put on a point that is equal to the number on one of the dice cast, if that point is not 'owned' by their opponent.
When a player has made six consecutive points, they have completed a prime. An opponent's piece caught behind a prime cannot move past - because a piece cannot be moved more than six spaces at a time - the highest number on a die.
A player who makes all six points on their home board has a 'closed board.' If their opponent has any pieces on the bar, they cannot re-enter since there is no vacant point in their opponent's home board. Until a point is opened up on that home board, the player forfeits their roll. He doesn't, however, lose his turn; and, can double his opponent prior to any of their opponent's rolls - presuming the cube is centered or on their side.
A player can begin to bear off when they have brought all their men into their home board, and continue bearing off only if all checkers stay at the home board. Once a piece is borne off they are not returned to play.
To bear off, remove pieces from the points corresponding to the numbers of the dice that are cast.
If a number higher than a player's highest point on which they have a piece is rolled, that number can apply to their highest occupied point.
A player is not required to remove their piece, however. They may also move a piece inside their home board the number of spaces equal to the number on the die.
When a player bears off all 15 of their pieces before their opponent bears off a single piece, that player wins a gammon, or double game.
When a players bears off all 15 of their pieces before their opponent bears off a single piece and that opponent has one or more pieces in the player's home board or on the bar, that player wins a backgammon, or a triple game.
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