How To Backgammon

3/23/2022by admin
How To Backgammon 4,5/5 3066 votes
  1. How To Win Backgammon
  2. How To Backgammon
  3. How To Backgammon Board Setup
  4. Classic Backgammon How To Play
Backgammon
Advanced Backgammon Tips
by Martin Short
2001

Backgammon is a game for two players, played on a board consisting of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. The triangles alternate in color and are grouped into four quadrants of six triangles each. The quadrants are referred to as a player's home board. Backgammon Game Strategy Fortify your checkers in backgammon by ensuring all remain in stacks of two or more at all times. Knock opponent backgammon checkers off as much as possible. Build up your home territory with two checkers + in each spot. This makes it more difficult for the opponent to roll.

Each player places 2 pieces on the 24 point, 5 pieces on the 13 point, 3 on the 8 point and 5 on the six point. Always arranged in a vertical line. The Objective of Backgammon / How to Win. The objective of the game is to bear off each of your own pieces before the opponent. One of the main strategies on how to play backgammon well is thus to close all the points in your inner board and hit an opponent’s blot in order to keep him off the game. The end of the game Once all your checkers are inside your inner board, the last part of the game is starting. Set the board on a level playing surface between the two players. Count the playing discs to confirm that you have the correct number. There should be 15 each of two colors, for a total of 30. If you're playing a more serious game, you might use a doubling cube, but it has no impact on the initial setup.

Here is a list of 27 tips that will help you to become a better player. These are general guidelines to consider in common situations.
  1. Once a backgammon opponent makes an advanced anchor it is even more important to make one yourself. Your opponent can now afford to make bolder plays which could really put you on the defensive.
  2. If you are already substantially behind in the race it may not hurt your chances to fall further behind. When you are way behind in the race it may actually improve your timing to be hit again giving you a better backgame or avoid crunching your board.
  3. When ahead in the race, race! Break contact if you are ahead and bank on your racing advantage.
  4. When you are behind in a race it is usually wrong to abandon an anchor or a holding point. Waiting for that shot may be your only chance to win.
  5. When you are in doubt, hit. Hitting takes precedence in most situations, especially on your opponents side of the board when it makes a bigger difference in the race. Your opponent may dance.
  6. When you are behind in the race and waiting for a shot, slot and build the points in your home board in order.
  7. Always slot to extend primes, especially six-point primes since you have less checkers to work with. The exception would be when you risk being put behind a prime yourself.
  8. When considering a double, for every 2 gammons you think you will lose, you have to win 1 more game to make it up. Varies with match score.
  9. When considering a double, you should be able to win 25% of the games, if there is little risk of a gammon, to break even. Varies with match score (when behind be a little more aggressive, when ahead be a little more conservative).
  10. When trying to save a gammon, always bear into the six-point, and make crossovers whenever possible. On last roll situations, make the play which allows you to save gammon the most often.
  11. In prime vs. prime situations, make plays that don't allow you to play high numbers on your next roll.
  12. Fight for equality early in the game. Battle for your five-point and four-points on both sides of the board.
  13. When considering doubling while on the bar, a better backgammon tips is to make sure you have serious market losers, you may dance.
  14. When in doubt, lock up permanent assets. Making a key point is often better than a loose hit.
  15. When bearing off, use all your numbers to take checkers off rather than trying to smooth your distribution by filling holes.
  16. If you are 2 points away, try for the undoubled gammon rather than turning an early cube.
  17. Keep your composure during big swings of luck in a game. Consider each position as a new one and not as the one you used to have.
  18. When considering plays, try and duplicate your opponents constructive numbers.
  19. If the likelihood of getting a gammon is close to 50%, bear off aggressively; if it is very likely or unlikely, play it safe.
  20. Loose 6's are better played on your opponents side of the board. Better to try and escape or go for an anchor than to risk getting hit on your own side of the board.
  21. When you already have several of your opponents checkers back, a better backgammon strategy is to strengthen a prime than to send more back which may give them a better backgame or improve their timing.
  22. Recirculate your checkers when in a backgame. Getting hit will improve your timing and help you to avoid crunching your board.
  23. When in a backgame, consider all your opponents rolls and create shots by opening up points and increase your chances of hitting.
  24. Try and keep an even number of checkers on your highest points when bearing off against an anchor to avoid leaving shots if you roll high doubles.
  25. As a general rule, if you have fewer checkers left and fewer pips in a bearoff, you have a sound double.
  26. If you have a choice between hitting a checker on your opponents side of the board or make a point on your own side, a better backgammon tip is usually to hit.
  27. Your bar-point (seven-point) is valuable but, if you have a choice, it is better to make your five-point or four-point.
Backgammon
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Return to: Backgammon Galore

Backgammon Rules

Backgammon is one of the oldest known boardgames. The object of the game is to move your pieces along the board's triangles and off the board before your opponent does.

There are a few different ways that this game is played. In this version your pieces move counterclockwise from the upper right, while your opponent's move clockwise from the bottom right. You can change the direction of play in Options if you prefer going from bottom right to top right. Additionally, the game is sometimes played in rounds with a scoring system deciding the eventual winner. In this version, each round is its own game, with no point scoring involved.

How To Backgammon
  1. The game starts with both players each rolling a single die to determine who goes first. The one with the higher roll starts, and uses the dice he and the opponent rolled to make his first move.
  2. Each turn, a player rolls two dice. The numbers shown decide how far the player may move their pieces.
    • If the same number is rolled on both dice, the player plays as if there were four dice, all showing the same number.
  3. When moving, you must always move the top piece off a triangle. As you move a piece, you may move onto a triangle that contains:
    • No pieces.
    • Your own pieces.
    • A single opposing piece.
  4. If you move a piece onto an opposing piece, that piece gets removed and placed onto the middle of the board. That piece's owner must then return it back onto the board, starting from the beginning. They may not perform any other moves until all their pieces are back on the board.
  5. Once all your pieces have made it around the board, you may start removing pieces (also known as 'bearing off'). A piece can bear off if:
    • You roll a number which corresponds exactly to how far the piece would have to travel to exit the board.
    • An unusued die has a higher value than is required to bear any piece off. In which case, you may bear off the piece that's furthest from the end.
  6. NOTE: You must use all your dice if possible! That means you cannot make a move with one dice and then say Pass, if there's any way to use other moves that play both dices. If you ever think the game is not allowing you to make a move that you think should be allowed, ask yourself what your next move would be. If there's no next move possible, then the game is forcing you to use both dice.

Your opponent bears off when their pieces are all in the upper right section of the board.

How

The player who manages to bear off all their pieces first is the winner.

  • Gammoning: When a player wins before their opponent has borne any pieces off.
  • Backgammoning: When a player wins before their opponent has borne any pieces off, and still has at least one piece left either in their first quadrant or on the bar.

About Backgammon

How To Win Backgammon

Backgammon is the 28th game we make here at CardGames.io. It's been requested a lot over the years, but the main reason it was never created was the custom graphics needed for it. Well, finally we did it! Backgammon is the first game developed by CardGames.io's two new full time employees, Kjartan and Alexandra! Winning a single game can take a long time, so we decided to just make the simplest version, without the doubling dice and tracking wins over many games. However, if we get a lot of requests for that we might add it later.

The game is written in JavaScript, using the Phaser HTML5 Game framework. The game board and pieces are custom graphics made here at CardGames.io, the dice and player faces as always come from our favorite clipart site, Open Clipart.

How To Backgammon

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How To Backgammon Board Setup

This is version 2897 of Backgammon.

Classic Backgammon How To Play

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