Backgammon is a game for two players, played on a boardconsisting of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. Thetriangles alternate in color and are grouped into four quadrantsof six triangles each. The quadrants are referred to as aplayer's home board and outer board, and the opponent's homeboard and outer board. The home and outer boards are separatedfrom each other by a ridge down the center of the board calledthe bar.
The points are numbered for either player starting in thatplayer's home board. The outermost point is the twenty-fourpoint, which is also the opponent's one point. Each player hasfifteen checkers of his own color. The initial arrangement ofcheckers is: two on each player's twenty-four point, five oneach player's thirteen point, three on each player's eightpoint, and five on each player's six point.
The object of the game is move all your checkers into your ownhome board and then bear them off. The first player to bear offall of their checkers wins the game.
To start the game, each player throws a single die. Thisdetermines both the player to go first and the numbers to beplayed. If equal numbers come up, then both players roll againuntil they roll different numbers. The player throwing thehigher number now moves his checkers according to the numbersshowing on both dice. After the first roll, the players throwtwo dice and alternate turns.
The roll of the dice indicates how many pips the player is tomove his checkers. The checkers are always moved forward, to alower-numbered point.
A point occupied by a single checker of either color is called ablot. If an opposing checker lands on a blot, the blot is hitand placed on the bar. Any time a player has one or morecheckers on the bar, his first obligation is to enter thosechecker(s) into the opposing home board. A checker is entered bymoving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numberson the rolled dice.
Once a player has moved all of his fifteen checkers into hishome board, he may commence bearing off. A player bears off achecker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point onwhich the checker resides, and then removing that checker fromthe board. Thus, rolling a 6 permits the player to remove achecker from the six point.
Even though backgammon has many rules and regulations it's avery interesting and fun game for all your friends and familymembers and it's very easy to learn as all that rules aren'tdifficult to understand.
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