Backgammon

Race fifteen checkers home, hit opposing blots and bear off first.

Getting a board

Craft a Backgammon board and fit it into a Large Game Table. Place matching Game Chairs facing the table, then take a seat.

Materials

1 ×Leather
7 ×Any planks
1 ×Brown wool

How to play

Open the fitted board to make your moves. How to play in the side tray gives you the same lessons with illustrations inside the game.

Race your fifteen checkers home

Light: top row goes left: Go left along the top, then right along the bottom. Home is bottom right. — **Light: top row goes left**
Go left along the top, then right along the bottom. Home is bottom right.

Dark: bottom row goes left: Go left along the bottom, then right along the top. Home is top right. — **Dark: bottom row goes left**
Go left along the bottom, then right along the top. Home is top right.

Roll, then spend the dice

Roll two dice: Each die moves one checker that many points. — **Roll two dice**
Each die moves one checker that many points.

Choose a checker: Green dots show legal places. You can move one checker twice or two once. — **Choose a checker**
Green dots show legal places. You can move one checker twice or two once.

A three moves three points

Spend the three: Count three points along your route. — **Spend the three**
Count three points along your route.

Six is left: Now use the other die if you can. — **Six is left**
Now use the other die if you can.

Matching dice give four moves

Double four: Roll two fours... — **Double four**
Roll two fours...

Four moves of four: ...and get FOUR moves of four points. — **Four moves of four**
...and get FOUR moves of four points.

Two enemy checkers block a point

Closed point: You cannot land on two or more enemy checkers. — **Closed point**
You cannot land on two or more enemy checkers.

Use your dice: Use both if possible. If only one can be used, use the larger one. — **Use your dice**
Use both if possible. If only one can be used, use the larger one.

One enemy checker can be hit

Land on this lone checker: Move three points onto the enemy checker. — **Land on this lone checker**
Move three points onto the enemy checker.

It goes to the middle: The hit checker waits on the middle bar. — **It goes to the middle**
The hit checker waits on the middle bar.

Come back from the bar first

A checker is waiting: Bring it back before moving your other checkers. — **A checker is waiting**
Bring it back before moving your other checkers.

Enter on a free point: Your die chooses the entry point. If every entry is blocked, your turn ends. — **Enter on a free point**
Your die chooses the entry point. If every entry is blocked, your turn ends.

All home? Start taking them off

All fifteen are home: Only now can you take checkers off. A six takes one from point six. — **All fifteen are home**
Only now can you take checkers off. A six takes one from point six.

One checker is off: An exact die takes one off; an oversized die can take the furthest one. — **One checker is off**
An exact die takes one off; an oversized die can take the furthest one.

First to take off all fifteen wins

Keep going: A hit checker must come all the way home again before you take more off. — **Keep going**
A hit checker must come all the way home again before you take more off.

Fifteen off wins: The first player with all fifteen off wins. — **Fifteen off wins**
The first player with all fifteen off wins.

Rules in more detail

Using both dice and bearing off

Use both dice whenever a legal ordering allows it. If only one can be used, use the higher one when it has a legal move. Doubles provide four moves of that value. The offered moves already account for these restrictions. Bearing off requires all fifteen checkers in your home board. An oversized die can remove your furthest checker, but not a nearer one while a checker remains further away. Where several dice can remove the same checker, the exact die is spent first, then the smallest sufficient one.

Keep playing

Use Rematch after the result to play again. To pause an unfinished match, the table owner can remove and keep its board.

See seats and solo play for multiplayer and Play alone, or item stakes if you want to agree on a pot.