Chad Bomberger - How to Play Backgammon: A Beginners Guide to Learning the Game, Rules, Board, Pieces, and Strategy to Win at Backgammon

How to play Backgammon

A Beginners Guide to Learning the Game, Rules, Board, Pieces, and Strategy to Win at Backgammon

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Table of Contents

BACKGAMMON IS ONE OF THE oldest games known to man, even predating chess. Backgammon is played by two players. The players have a set number of pieces on a board and must move them depending on the roll of a dice. The aim of the game is to be the first player to remove all of their pieces from the board.

As the moves are dependent on the roll of a dice, there is some luck to the game, but there is strategy too. Over the course of many games, the more experienced player will win more games than the novice player.

The very first backgammon board was thought to have been found in Iran, the board dates to around 3000BC. The board featured a snake coil design.

The very first mention of backgammon in print was in Bhartrharis Vairagyasataka, which was written around the sixth or seventh century AD. The rules of the game have been found in text which predates this, but the actual game was not mentioned until then. Early sixth-century writing gives the honor of the games invention to a Persian sage, who was minister to the King.

Legend has it that an Indian minister was sent to Persia, with the game of chess, to challenge the Persian King. The King found his wisest men and instructed them to decipher the game, which, after three days, they did. In a reciprocal challenge, the Kings minister invented the game of backgammon and sent it back to India to be deciphered, by the Kings wise men. They were unable to decipher the game.

During the Roman and Byzantine Empires, the rules of backgammon were very similar to those of today, the only exception being the use of an extra dice. They used three dice, instead of two.

During the sixteenth century, backgammon became popular in Great Britain. If we look at Middle English, then it is likely that the name of the game comes from the words back and gamen, meaning back play. In 1650, the word backgammon was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.

It was during the 1920s, in the United States, that backgammon underwent some development: the doubling cube was added. This added a new element to the game.

Prince Alexis Obolensky is known as The Father of Modern Backgammon, and was instrumental in its rise to popularity during the 1960s. The charismatic prince, known as Obe to his friends, co-founded the International Backgammon Association. A set of rules were published, a club was established, tournaments were set up, royalty took notice, celebrities found it fashionable, and the press covered it all.

The height of backgammon popularity came in 1967 when a tournament was held in Las Vegas. Big sponsors were on board, and the top players were there to play. Backgammon has not seen as big a tournament since, but the game is still popular the world over.

A BACKGAMMON BOARD CONSISTS OF twenty-four narrow triangles or points. These triangles usually alter in color, but the color is not important to the game. The board is split into four parts, and each part contains six triangles. The board sits between the two players; each player will have twelve triangles in front of them, pointing away.

As you look down on the board, the six triangles to the first players right are defined as the home board of your color; this would be white or red, black or red, etc. The other six triangles are designated as the outer board. On the opposite side, looking down on the board, the home board of the second player will be directly opposite the first players. This means that the second players home board will be to their left, as they sit on the opposite side of the board. We will talk about the board from the point of the first player from now on.

Between the triangles, in the middle of the board, will be a ridge, or an area. This ridge in the center of the board is known as the bar and comes into play during the game.

Each player starts with fifteen counters or checkers, usually circular wooden pieces. We have talked about the board so that we will be setting up for the first player, player one. They are placed on the board. The right-hand quadrant in front of them is their home board. This is where they want to move all their pieces towards. For the purpose of this guide, we will number the triangles. The triangle on the players right, in their home board, will be number 1. We will then move from right to left, numbering them from 1 to 12, on the players side. Directly opposite the 12th triangle is the 13th triangle. Then we will move from left to right, numbering the triangles from to This means that the number 24 triangle is directly opposite the number 1 triangle. The player on the opposite side would number the triangles in reverse.

Once we have the triangles numbered, it is time to place our counters on the board, in their starting position. We place two counters on the 24th triangle or point. Five counters go on the 13th point, three counters on the 8th point, and five counters on the 6th point. The player opposite would place their counters on the same numbered points, but these points would be different as their points are numbered in reverse order. When all of the counters are placed, you will notice that they are stacked in columns which are opposite each other. Player ones sixth point is opposite player twos sixth point.

This is the starting point for every game.

To decide who goes first, both players should roll a dice, with the higher roll going first. In the event of a tie, the players should re-roll the dice. Players will then take turns moving their pieces around the board. The object of the game is to, firstly, move all of your pieces into your home board, and secondly, to bear-off, remove all your pieces from the home board. We will start by moving our pieces to the home board.