Rules to the game of backgammon
This document is a formatted html version of the rules to the game of
backgammon, as found in the backgammon-faq, which is posted monthly to the
newsgroup rec.games.backgammon.
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CONTENTS
- A Backgammon board or layout.
- Thirty round stones, or checkers, 15 each of two different colors,
- A Backgammon board or layout.
- Thirty round stones, pr checkers, 15 each of two different colors,
generally referred to as `men'.
- A pair of regular dice, numbered from 1 to 6. (For convenience, two
pairs of dice, one for each player, are generally used.)
- A dice cup, used to shake and cast the dice. (Again, it is more
convenient to have two dice cups.)
- A doubling cube---A six-faced die, marked with the numerals
2,4,8,16,32 & 64. This is used to keep track of the number of units
at stake in each game, as well as to mark the player who last doubled.
Backgammon is an
obstacle race between two armies of 15 men each, moving around a track
divided into 24 dagger-like divisions known as ``points''.
The Backgammon layout is divided down the center by a partition,
known as the ``bar'' (See Diagram 1), into an outer and inner (or home)
board or table. The side nearest you is your outer and home tables; the
side farther away is your opponents outer and home boards. The arrows
indicate the direction of play.
For purposes of convenience we have numbered the points in the
diagram. Though the points are not numbered on the actual board, they are
frequently referred to during play to describe a move or a position. Your
(X's) 4-point or 8-point will always be on your side of the board; your
opponent's (O's) will always be on his side of the board.
A move from your 9-point to your 5-point is four spaces (the bar
does not count as a space). A move from White's 12-point to your 12-point,
though it crosses from his board to yours, is but one space, for these two
points are really next to each other.
Diagram 2 shows the board set up ready for play. Each side has five
men on his 6-point, three men on his 8-point, five men on his opponent's
12-point, and two men, known as ``runners'', on his opponents' 1-point.
The runners will have to travel the full length of the track, the other
men have shorter distances to go. Note that play proceeds in opposite
directions, so that the men can be set up in two ways. Turn the diagram
upside down to see the layout if play were proceeding in the other
direction.
+-------------------------------------------------->
|
| +-----------------------------< X moves this direction
| |
| |
| | 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
| | +------------------------------------------+
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | | | | +----+
^ v | Outer Board |BAR| Home Board | | 64 |
| | | | | | +----+
| | | P O I N T S | | . . . . . . | Doubling
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . | Cube
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | | . . . . . . | | . . . . . . |
| | +------------------------------------------+
| | 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
| |
| +---------------------------------------------->
|
+---------------------------------< Y moves this direction
Diagram 1 (Numbered from X's point of view)
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
+------------------------------------------+
| X . . . O . | | O . . . . X |
| X O | | O X |
| X O | | O |
| X | | O |
| X | | O | +----+
| |BAR| | | 64 |
| O | | X | +----+
| O | | X |
| O X | | X |
| O X | | X O |
| O . . . X . | | X . . . . O |
+------------------------------------------+
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Diagram #2 (Numbered from X's point of view)
The object of
Backgammon is for each player to bring all his men into his home board,
and then to bear them off the board. The first player to get all his men
off the board is the winner.
Each player casts one
die. The player with the higher number makes the first move, using the two
numbers cast by his die and his opponent's. In the event that both players
roll the same number, it is a standoff and each rolls another die to
determine the first move. In the event of subsequent ties, this process is
repeated until the dice turn up different numbers. (In some games, players
double the unit stake automatically every time they cast the same number;
others limit the automatic doubles to one. In tournament play, there is no
such thing as an automatic double.)
Each player's turn
consists of the roll of two dice. He then moves one or more men in
accordance with the numbers cast. Assume he rolls 4-2. He may move one man
six spaces, or one man four spaces and another man two spaces. Bear in
mind that, when moving a single man for the total shown by the two dice,
you are actually making two moves with the one man---each move according
to the number shown on one of the dice.
If the same number appears on
both dice, for example, 2-2 or 3-3 (known as doublets), the caster is
entitled to four moves instead of two. Thus, if he rolls 3-3, he can move
up to four men, but each move must consist of three spaces.
The players throw and play alternately throughout the game, except
in the case where a player cannot make a legal move and therefore forfeits
his turn.
A player makes a point by
positioning two or more of his men on it. He then ``owns'' that point, and
his opponent can neither come to rest on that point nor touch down on it
when taking the combined total of his dice with one man.
A player who has made six
consecutive points has completed a prime. An opposing man trapped behind a
prime cannot move past, for it cannot be moved more than six spaces at a
time---the largest number on a die.
A single man on a point is called a
blot. If you move a man onto an opponent's blot, or touch down on it in
the process of moving the combined total of your cast, the blot is hit,
removed from the board and placed on the bar.
A man that has been hit must re-enter in the opposing home table. A
player may not make any move until such time as he has brought the man on
the bar back into play. Re-entry is made on a point equivalent to the
number of one of the dice cast, providing that point is not owned by the
opponent.
A Player who has made all
six points in his home board is said to have a closed board. If the
opponent has any men on the bar, he will not be able to re-enter it since
there is no vacant point in his adversary;s home board. Therefore, he
forfeits his rolls, and continues to do so until such time as the player
has to open up a point in his home board, thus providing a point of
rentry. It should be noted, the he doesn't loses his turn, as he still
retains the ability to double his opponent before any of his opponents
rolls, assuming the cube is centered or on his side.
A player is compelled
to take his complete move if there is any way for him to do so. If he can
take either of the numbers but not both, he must take the higher number if
possable, the lower if not.
[Another way of saying this...]
- If both parts of the roll can be played legally, then this must be
done. Note that you may play the roll in such a way as to move fewer
pips than the larger die indicates by playing the smaller die first ---
this is common in bearoff situations, and legal as long as each part of
the roll is played legally at the moment you play it.
- If only one part of the roll can be played legally, then you must
play the higher die if possible; if not, play the lower die.
--kw
Once a player has brought
all his men into his home board, he can commence bearing off. Men borne
off the board are not re-entered into play. The player who bears off all
his men first is the winner. A player may not bear off men while he has a
man on the bar, or outside his home board. Thus if, in the process of
bearing off, a player leaves a blot and it is hit by his opponent, he must
first re-enter the man in his opponents home board, and bring it round the
board into his own home board before he can continue the bearing off
process.
In bearing off, you remove men from the points corresponding to the
numbers on the dice cast. However, you are not compelled to remove a man.
You may, if you can, move a man inside your home board a number of spaces
equivalent to the number of a die.
If you roll a number higher than the highest point on which you
have a man, you may apply that number to your highest occupied point.
Thus, if you roll 6-3 and your 6-point has already been cleared but you
have men on your 5-point, you may use your 6 to remove a man from your
5-point.
In some cases it may be advantagous to play the smaller die first
before applying the higher die to your highest point (See Compulsory
Move). For example, suppose you have one checker on your 5 point, and two
checkers on your 2 point. Your opponent has a checker on the ace (one
point) and on the bar. You roll 6-3. You may play the 3 to the 2 point
then the 6 to bear a checker off the 2 point leaving your opponent no
shots (no blots for the opponent to hit). The alternative, using the 6-3
to bear checkers off both the 5 and 2 points, would leave your opponent 20
out of 36 ways to hit your remaining blot.
If you bear off all
15 of your men before your opponent has borne off a single man, you win a
gammon, or double game.
If you bear off all 15 of your men before your opponent has borne
off a single man, and he still has one or more men in your home board or
on the bar, you win a backgammon, or a triple game.
It is customary to cast your
dice in your right-hand board. Both dice must come to rest completely flat
in that board. If one die crosses the bar into the other table, or jumps
off the board, or does not come to rest flat, or ends up resting on one of
the men, the dice are ``cocked'' and the whole throw, using both dice,
must be retaken.
The introduction
of the doubling cube into the game is largely responsible for the leap in
popularity of modern backgammon.
Each face of the doubling cube bears a number to record progressive
doubles and redoubles, starting with 2 and going on to 4, 8, 16, 32 &;
64. At the commencement of play, the doubling cube rests on the bar,
between the two players, or at the side of the board. At any point during
the game, a player who thinks he is sufficiently ahead may, when it is his
turn to play and before he casts his dice, propose to double the stake by
turning the cube to 2. His opponent may decline to accept the double, in
which case he forfeits the game and loses 1 unit, or accept the double, in
which case the game continues with the stake at 2 units. The player who
accepts the double now ``owns'' the cube---which means that he has the
option t redouble at any point during the rest of the game, but his
opponent (the original doubler) may not. If, at a later stage he exercises
this option, his opponent is now faced with a similar choice. He may
either decline the redouble and so lose 2 units, or accept and play for 4,
and he now ``owns'' the cube. A player may double when he is on the bar
even if his opponent has a closed board and he cannot enter. Though he
does not roll the dice, for he cannot make a move, he still has the right
to double. Note that gammon doubles or backgammon triples the stake of the
cube.
From the FIBS help screens:
If you are playing an n-point match and your opponent is ahead
of you and he gets to n-1 points you are not allowed to use
the doubling cube in the next game to come
EXAMPLE:
5 point match
score
game # You opponent
1 0 3
2 0 4
3 1 4 (you were not allowed to double in this game)
4 3 4 (you were allowed to double again)
... ... ...
The Crawford rule is universally used in backgammon match play.
The Jacoby rule is
used in money games. It states, that a gammon or backgammon may not be
scored as such unless the cube has been passed and accepted. The purpose
is to speed up play by eliminating long undoubled games.
The Jacoby rule is never used in match play.
This rule applies to
match games and states that in post-Crawford games the trailer can only
double after both sides have played two rolls. It makes the free drop more
valuable to the leader but generally just confuses the issue.
Unlike the Crawford rule, the Holland rule has not proved popular,
and is rarely used today.
In money play, if player A doubles, and player B
believes that he is a favorite holding the cube, he may turn the cube an
extra notch as he takes, and keep the cube on his own side. For example,
if A makes an initial double to 2, B may, instead of taking the double and
holding a 2 cube, say ``beaver'', turn the cube an extra notch to 4, and
continue the game holding a 4 cube.
If A believes that B's beaver was in error, some play that he may
then ``raccoon'', turning the cube yet another notch (to 8 in the
example). Cube ownership remains with B. B may then if he wishes turn the
cube yet another notch, saying ``aardvark'', or ``otter'' or whatever
silly animal name he prefers (the correct animal is a matter of
controversy), and so forth.
Beavers and the rest of the animals may be played or not in money
play, as the players wish.
Beavers and other animals are never used in match play.
-- Andy Latto
It should be noted that the original cube turner can drop a beaver. For
example, suppose I miscount a bearoff and double, you accept and say you
want to beaver. I realize something is wrong and recount. If I am horribly
behind, I can drop the beaver, paying you the value on the cube before you
beavered.
-michael j zehr
A Chouette is a social
backgammon variant for more than 2 players. One player is ``the box'', and
plays against all other players on a single board. One other player is the
captain, and rolls the dice and makes the plays for the team that opposes
the box. If the box wins, the captain goes to the back of the line, and
the next player becomes captain. If the captain wins, the box goes to the
back of the line, and the captain becomes the new box.
Customs vary as to the rights of the captain's partners: In some
Chouettes, they may consult freely as to the way rolls should be played.
In others, consultation is prohibited. A compromise, where consultation is
allowed only after the cube has been turned, is popular.
Originally, Chouettes were played with a single cube. The only
decisions that players other than the captain were allowed to make
independently concerned takes: If the box doubled, each player on the team
could take or drop independently. Today, multiple-cube Chouettes are more
popular; each player on the team has his own cube, and all doubling,
dropping, and taking decisions are made independently by all players.
-- Andy Latto
