Game Rules
The complete rules for Backgammon – from the basics to Gammon and Backgammon.
Objective
Backgammon is played by two players on a board with 24 narrow triangles (points). Each player has 15 checkers. The goal is to move all your checkers into your home board and then bear them off. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins.
Setup
At the start, checkers are placed as follows: 2 on point 24, 5 on point 13, 3 on point 8, and 5 on point 6. The opponent has the mirrored setup. The board has four quadrants: your home board (points 1–6), your outer board (7–12), the opponent's outer board (13–18), and the opponent's home board (19–24).
Movement Rules
Players take turns rolling two dice. Checkers are moved according to the dice values toward the player's home board. Each die must be played separately – to a point that is either open, occupied by the player's own checkers, or has at most one opponent's checker. When doubles are rolled, the player moves four times the value shown.
Hitting & The Bar
If only one opponent's checker sits on a point (a "blot"), it can be hit. The hit checker is placed on the bar (the center divider). Before moving any other checkers, a player must first re-enter all checkers from the bar into the opponent's home board. Entry is made according to the dice – if the target point is blocked, the roll is forfeited.
Bearing Off
Once all 15 of a player's checkers are in their home board (points 1–6), bearing off begins. With each die, a checker may be removed from the corresponding point. If no checker is on the rolled point, a checker must be moved from a higher point. If there is no higher point occupied, a checker may be borne off from the highest occupied point.
Doubling Cube
The doubling cube starts at 1. Before rolling, a player may offer to double – the opponent must then accept (the stakes are doubled) or decline (they lose the current stakes immediately). After accepting, the acceptor owns the cube and is the only one who may re-double. The values are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64.
Gammon & Backgammon
Regular win (1×): The loser has borne off at least one checker. Gammon (2×): The loser has not borne off any checkers. Backgammon (3×): The loser has not borne off any checkers and still has checkers on the bar or in the winner's home board. Points are multiplied by the doubling cube value.