Backgammon FAQ

Q: What is backgammon?

A: Backgammon is one of the oldest games in existence, dating back some 5000 years and believed to have been developed by the ancient Egyptians. It is not a game of luck as many believe, but a strategic game of war; in many ways as difficult to master as chess or Go. A random element (luck) is certainly involved, but a champion player also uses the laws of probability, intuition, imagination and psychology to outwit his opponent. From learning how to play backgammon and the basic rules of the game, to mastering advanced backgammon tips and tricks, there are many sites that explain in great detail how to play backgammon online .

Q: Backgammon Equipment

A Backgammon board or layout.

Thirty round stones, or 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.

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Q: The backgammon board

A: 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" 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.

Q: What is the doubling cube for?

A: 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.

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