How to play Backgammon
Race all 15 checkers home while hitting blots and blocking your opponent's path.
- Players
- 2
- Checkers
- 15 each
- First roll
- White
- Goal
- Bear off all checkers
Turn flow
Roll two dice and use each value as a separate move; doubles provide four moves. White travels from point 1 toward 24 and Black travels in the opposite direction. This table starts with White rolling rather than a separate opening-roll contest.
Open points, hits, and the bar
You may land on an empty point, your own point, or a point holding one opposing checker. That lone checker is a blot and is hit to the bar. A point with two or more opposing checkers is blocked. If you have a checker on the bar, re-enter it before moving anything else.
Bearing off
You may bear off only after every checker is in your home board and none is on the bar. Use an exact die when possible. An oversized die may remove a checker only when no checker lies farther from the exit. The first player to bear off all 15 wins.
This table's variant
The game is a single win or loss with no doubling cube, match score, gammon, or backgammon bonus. Moves are validated one die at a time; if a move leaves no legal continuation, unused dice may be cleared.
Beginner strategy
- Make safe points instead of leaving isolated blots.
- Build consecutive home-board points to punish an opponent on the bar.
- Move rear checkers before they become trapped behind a prime.
- Keep checkers distributed through your home board for flexible bear-off rolls.
- Remember that cube and gammon tactics do not apply here.