Backgammon

Backgammon is one of the oldest and most enduring board games in the world for two players. It perfectly balances deep strategic planning with the element of chance provided by rolling dice.

The ultimate goal is to be the first player to move all 15 checkers around the board, bring them into your home board, and bear them off (remove them from the board).

The board consists of 24 narrow triangles called points, split down the middle by a central ridge known as the bar. The points alternate in color and are numbered from 1 to 24, forming a continuous horseshoe track.

• Checkers: Each player starts with 15 checkers of contrasting colors (traditionally black and white, or red and white).

• Direction of Play: Players move their checkers in opposite directions. Your home board is your opponent’s starting quadrant, meaning your paths will constantly cross.

1. The Dice Roll: On your turn, you roll two standard dice. You can move one checker the combined total of both dice, or move two different checkers (one using the value of the first die, and another using the second).

2. Open Points: A checker can only land on an “open” point. A point is open if:

   • It is completely empty.
   • It contains one or more of your own checkers.
   • It contains exactly one of your opponent’s checkers.

3. Blocks: If a player has two or more checkers on a single point, they “own” that point. The opponent cannot land on it, though they can jump over it.

4. Doubles: If you roll matching numbers (e.g., 5 and 5), you get to play the numbers four times instead of twice!

• Blots and Hits: A single checker standing alone on a point is called a blot. If your opponent lands exactly on that point, your checker is hit and placed on the central bar.

• The Bar Priority: If you have any checkers on the bar, you cannot move any other checkers on the board until all your checkers from the bar have re-entered the game. To re-enter, you must roll a number that corresponds to an open point on your opponent’s home board.

Once you have successfully guided all 15 of your checkers into your home board (the final 6 points of your track), you can begin bearing them off (removing them from the board based on your dice rolls). The first person to clear their board wins.

• Single Win: You win the standard stake if your opponent has already borne off at least one checker.
• Gammon: You win double points (2x) if you bear off all your checkers before your opponent has borne off a single one.
• Backgammon: You win triple points (3x) if you win a gammon and your opponent still has a checker on the bar or trapped inside your home board.

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The Royal Game of Ur (c. 3000 BCE): Archaeologists in modern-day Iraq (ancient Mesopotamia) discovered spectacular inlaid game boards that are widely considered the earliest ancestors of Backgammon. It was a race game using dice and counters.

Egyptian Senet: Similar racing games with markers and elements of fate were favored by Egyptian pharaohs. Boards dating back to 1500 BCE were found inside King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The Romans were obsessed with a game called Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum (Game of Twelve Lines), which later evolved into Tabula (meaning “table” or “board”).

Tabula used the exact same 24-point board layout we use today, alongside the rules for hitting solitary checkers and bearing off. It was famously called the “sport of emperors”—Emperor Claudius even had a special board built into his chariot so he could play while traveling.

• Persian Nard: In the 6th century, a highly strategic variant called Nard spread through Persia and India.

• The Crusades: Knights returning from the Holy Land brought the game back to Europe, where it became known generically as “Tables” (or Tavola Reale in Italy, Tablas Reales in Spain).

• Because it was heavily tied to gambling, several rulers—including King Louis IX of France in 1254—tried to ban it. However, it remained an exclusive privilege and favorite pastime among nobility, clergy, and royalty.

• The actual word “Backgammon” first appeared in print in 1645 in England.

Historians believe the name comes from the Middle English words baec (back) and gamen (game), meaning “the back game”. This describes the core mechanic of the game: checkers that are hit must go all the way back to the beginning of the board to restart.

In 1743, writer Edmond Hoyle published a famous treatise that standardized the official rules and introduced early advanced strategies.

The Doubling Cube (1920s): Invented by an unknown gambler in New York City, the addition of the doubling cube revolutionized Backgammon. It allowed players to raise the stakes during a game, injecting an intense layer of bluffing, psychology, and probability.

The Jet Set Era (1970s): Backgammon experienced a massive pop-culture boom. It became the ultimate symbol of luxury and leisure, played at high-society clubs, luxury yachts in the Mediterranean, and Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion.