Backgammon – Play Online for Free

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world and has lost none of its fascination after nearly 3,000 years of history. Greek soldiers at the siege of Troy are said to have played a game remarkably similar to it, according to ancient accounts. The Roman emperor Claudius even wrote a treatise on his favorite game, though it has not survived to this day. The modern version of backgammon gained its widespread popularity in New York in the 1930s.

Setup and Rules

Backgammon is easy to learn, yet offers a depth of play that can engage you for a lifetime. The board consists of 24 elongated triangles called points, divided into four zones: your home board, your outer board, and the two corresponding zones on your opponent's side. The game uses 15 white checkers, 15 dark checkers, and two dice. The objective is to move all your checkers into your home board and then bear them off the board.

At the start of each game, both players place their checkers in the same fixed starting position. The winner is the first to bear off all their checkers.

White checkers are placed as follows:

• 2 checkers on the far-right point of the opponent's home board
• 5 checkers on the far-left point of the opponent's outer board
• 3 checkers on the second point to the left of the midpoint in your own outer board
• 5 checkers on the point immediately to the right of the midpoint in your home board

Dark checkers are placed in a perfectly mirrored arrangement so both players' positions face each other. In our game both home boards are on the right: the white checkers move counterclockwise into their home board at the bottom, the dark checkers clockwise into theirs at the top.

The rules

• To determine who goes first, each player rolls one die; the higher result starts. Ties are re-rolled.
• The winner plays these two numbers as the first move. After that, each player rolls both dice, and players alternate turns.
• You may move one or two checkers depending on your roll. With a 5 and a 2, you can move one checker 5 points and another 2, or combine both values to move a single checker 7 points.
• If both dice show the same value (doubles), the number of moves is doubled. Double 3 allows four moves of 3 points each.
• Moves are made separately for each die. A checker cannot land on a point occupied by two or more opponent checkers, and when one checker uses several numbers in a row, every point where it touches down along the way must be open too. You must use as many of your numbers as possible; if you can play either number but not both, you must play the higher one.
• If a checker lands on a point holding a single opponent checker, that checker is hit, removed, and placed on the bar in the center of the board.
• Checkers on the bar must be re-entered onto the board before any other move, using one or both values of the next roll.
• Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you may begin bearing them off. A number bears off a checker from the point of the same number, counted from the edge of the board; a number higher than your highest occupied point bears off a checker from that point.
• Example: a checker on point 5, another on point 3. You roll 6 and 2. The 6 bears off the checker on point 5; the 2 moves the other checker forward.

Tips for Getting Started

Backgammon has inspired countless tactical recommendations since antiquity, and mastering it shares something with poker or chess: you can learn the basics in ten minutes and spend a lifetime exploring the subtleties. Here are a few fundamentals worth practicing until they become second nature.

Get all your checkers out of the opponent's home board and into your own half of the board before they become trapped. If you delay, they risk being blocked while your opponent has already secured position on the other side.

Occupying points in the opponent's area is generally less effective than building up your own zone. As long as opponent checkers remain on your side of the board, you can slow them with solid blocks: each point in the block must hold at least two of your own checkers, and the block should cover as many consecutive points as possible without leaving gaps. Breaking through such a defence requires considerable luck with the dice.

You can play against the computer or against another person, which is an excellent way to test different strategies and identify weaknesses in your own game.

How Backgammon Works

You can challenge the computer, choosing Easy, Normal or Hard, or play with a friend at the same screen. You play the white checkers from the bottom of the board; in a game for two, the second player takes the dark checkers and both players look at the board from the same side. Click the dice or anywhere on the table to roll. The number next to each name is that player's pip count, the total number of points their checkers still have to travel. In the color palette you can change the colors of the board and the wood of the case around it.

Click a checker and rings mark every point it can reach, including points it reaches with several numbers in a row; click a ring or drag the checker there. When a checker can be borne off, the tray on the right is marked as well. If a checker will not move, a short message explains why, for example that a checker on the bar has to enter first or that you must play the higher number. Once your roll is played, click the dice again to end your turn; until then, the undo button on the bar takes back the moves of this roll. When the last checker is off, the game shows how clearly it was won: a single game counts one point, a gammon two (the loser has not borne off a single checker) and a backgammon three (the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board). There is no doubling cube; each game is scored by itself.

More Great Games

Backgammon is a competitive game where the challenge lies in making the most of what the dice give you. For something more relaxed, Freecell, Solitaire, and Spider Solitaire offer quiet solo challenges at any skill level. For more action, Uno Online and Bubble Shooter are great options. New games are added regularly, so check back often.