How to Play Backgammon

A complete guide for beginners and improving players

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world — a fast, tactical race for two players that mixes luck and skill in a way few games match. This guide takes you from the very first roll to real winning strategy: the setup, how a turn works, hitting, bearing off, counting the race, the best opening moves, and the ideas that separate strong players from beginners. Prefer a concise reference? See the complete backgammon rules. When you are ready, play a free game right here on BackgammonWorld and put it into practice.

The goal of the game

Each player has fifteen checkers. The two players move their checkers in opposite directions around the board, both heading toward their own home board (the quarter of the board nearest them). Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you start taking them off the board — this is called bearing off. The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins the game.

Along the way you are not just racing: you can land on a lone enemy checker to send it all the way back to the start, and you can block your opponent's path. So backgammon is a race and a fight at the same time — and knowing when to do which is the whole art of the game.

The board and starting position

The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, grouped into four quadrants of six. Each player has a home board and an outer board. On BackgammonWorld the points are numbered 1 to 24 from your point of view: your home board is points 1–6 (bottom right), and your checkers travel around toward point 1, where they bear off. Your opponent sees the board the same way from their side, so their numbering is the mirror of yours.

The standard starting position for each player is:

• Two checkers on your 24-point (the far corner, deep in the opponent's home).
• Five checkers on your 13-point (the "midpoint").
• Three checkers on your 8-point.
• Five checkers on your 6-point.

That is fifteen checkers each, set up as mirror images. Between the two halves of the board runs the bar, where checkers that get hit are placed. Off to the side is the tray where borne-off checkers go.

Taking your turn

To decide who starts, each player rolls a single die; the higher number goes first and plays those two dice as the opening move. After that, players alternate, rolling two dice each turn.

The two numbers on the dice tell you how far you may move, and the rules are simple:

• Each die is a separate move of one checker. A roll of 5-3 lets you move one checker five points and another three points — or the same checker five then three (as long as the in-between point is legal to land on).
• You may only land on a point that is open — empty, holding your own checkers, or holding exactly one enemy checker (which you then hit; see below). A point held by two or more enemy checkers is blocked.
• Roll doubles (two of the same number) and you play that number four times instead of twice. Double 4s means four moves of four.
• You must use as much of your roll as possible. If you can play both dice, you must. If only one die can be played but either one would be legal on its own, you must play the higher number. If nothing can be played, your turn is simply forfeited.

Hitting, blots and the bar

A point with only one of your checkers on it is called a blot. A blot is exposed: if an opponent can land on it, they hit it, and your checker is picked up and placed on the bar — the wooden ridge down the middle of the board.

A checker on the bar must re-enter the board in the opponent's home board before you may make any other move. You enter using a die value: a 3 enters on the point 3 deep into that home board, and so on. If both entry points are blocked, you cannot move at all that turn — this is called dancing (or being "stuck on the bar"), and it can be very costly.

Getting hit sends a checker all the way back to the start of its journey, so a single hit can swing the race by a huge number of pips. Deciding when to leave a blot, when to hit, and when to play safe is the heartbeat of backgammon.

Making points, anchors and primes

When you have two or more checkers on a point, you have made that point: your opponent cannot land there, and your own checkers there are safe from being hit. Making points is how you build both safety and blockades.

• A made point in your own home board (1–6) is a wall against a checker your opponent is trying to bring in from the bar. Make several and your home board becomes hard — or impossible — to enter.
• A made point deep in the opponent's home board is called an anchor. An anchor is a safe base for your back checkers and a launch pad for a hit later. The most valuable anchors are the 20-point ("golden anchor") and the 18-point (bar point anchor).
• Several made points in a row form a prime. A full six-point prime is an unbreakable wall — a checker trapped behind it cannot escape with any roll until you open a gap.

Bearing off

Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board (points 1–6), you may begin bearing off. You cannot bear off while a checker is still outside the home board or sitting on the bar — bring it home first.

The dice tell you which checkers you can take off:

• A roll takes a checker off the point of the same number: a 4 bears a checker off your 4-point.
• If you roll a number higher than your highest occupied point, you may bear a checker off from that highest point. (For example, if your highest checkers are on the 4-point and you roll a 6, a checker comes off the 4-point.)
• You may always choose to move a checker inside the home board instead of bearing off, which is sometimes safer.

One trap to watch: if your opponent still holds an anchor in your home board, bearing off carelessly can leave a blot that gets hit — sending a checker all the way around again just as you were about to win. Bear off smoothly, keep your points even, and try not to leave a shot.

Winning: single, gammon, backgammon

The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins — but not every win is worth the same:

• Single game (1 point): you win and your opponent has already borne off at least one checker.
• Gammon (2 points): you bear off all fifteen before your opponent bears off a single checker. A gammon counts double.
• Backgammon (3 points): a gammon and your opponent still has a checker on the bar or in your home board. A backgammon counts triple — the biggest possible win.

This is why, when you are far ahead, it is often worth playing on aggressively for a gammon rather than settling for a plain win — and why, when you are far behind, keeping just one checker alive can save you two points. On BackgammonWorld you can play quick single games or a match to 3 or 5 points with the doubling cube — gammons and backgammons multiply the cube's value, and the final screen shows exactly what your win was worth.

Pip counting

Your pip count is the total number of pips (points) all your checkers still have to travel to bear off. It is the single most useful number in backgammon: it tells you, at a glance, whether you are ahead or behind in the race — and therefore whether you should be racing home or fighting.

To count it, multiply the number of checkers on each point by that point's number, then add it all up. From the standard starting position that works out to:

Both players start on 167, exactly even. Every time you move, your count drops by the pips you played; every time you get hit, it jumps up by the pips that checker loses. As a rough guide, if you are ahead by about 8–10% or more, you are usually favoured in a straight race and should simplify and run for home. If you are behind, you generally want to hold an anchor and play for a hit.

The best opening moves

The opening roll is always two different numbers (a tie on the opening die is re-rolled), so there are fifteen possible opening rolls. Decades of computer analysis have produced well-established best plays for each. Below, notation like 8/5 means "move a checker from your 8-point to your 5-point". A few rolls have more than one strong choice, shown as an alternative.

Notice the theme: nearly every strong opening either makes a valuable point, brings a builder down from the midpoint to help make points next turn, or advances a back checker toward safety. When in doubt, prefer making the 5-point, the bar point, or the 4-point over anything else.

Want to see each of these plays on the board? Our backgammon opening moves guide walks through every roll with diagrams.

Core strategy for beginners

You do not need to memorise everything to start winning. A handful of principles will take you a long way:

• Prioritise the 5-point and bar point. These points do the most to block your opponent's back checkers. Make them early whenever you can.
• Bring builders down. Spare checkers on your 8- and 13-points are ammunition — they let you make new points next turn. Do not leave everything stacked on the 6-point.
• Keep an anchor when you are behind. If you have lost the race, hold a point in your opponent's home board. It keeps your back checkers safe and gives you a shot at a game-saving hit later. Don't run an anchor too early.
• Pick a game plan and commit. Broadly there are four: race (run for home when you are ahead), prime/block (wall your opponent's checkers in), blitz (attack and try to close your home board while they are on the bar), and hold/back game (sit on an anchor and wait for a shot when you are behind). Let the pip count and the position tell you which.
• Count the shots before you leave a blot. Numbers 1 through 6 are "direct" shots; combinations like 6-2 to reach a distance of 8 are "indirect". Leaving a blot is fine when the reward is high or the shot is unlikely — just do it on purpose, not by accident.
• Play for the gammon when you are winning big, and to save the gammon when you are losing big. Because gammons count double, they often matter more than the plain win.

Ready to go deeper? Our dedicated backgammon strategy guide covers the four game plans, building a prime, anchors, the blitz, dice economy, and clean bear-offs.

Common beginner mistakes

• Playing too safe. Never hitting or never leaving a blot lets a good opponent outmanoeuvre you. Backgammon rewards controlled aggression.
• Over-stacking. Piling checkers on the 6-point and midpoint feels safe but wastes their point-making potential. Spread out into builders.
• Breaking an anchor too early. Your back anchor is your insurance. Don't give it up until you are clearly ahead in the race.
• Ignoring the race. Priming and holding when you are actually ahead just gives the lead back. If the pip count says run, run.
• Leaving needless shots in the bear-off. When an opponent still has an anchor, bear off in a way that keeps your points even and avoids exposing a blot.

Glossary of terms

• Point: one of the 24 triangles. Also the act of "making a point" with two or more checkers.
• Blot: a point with a single checker — it can be hit.
• Hit: to land on an opponent's blot, sending it to the bar.
• Bar: the centre divider where hit checkers wait to re-enter.
• Anchor: a made point in the opponent's home board.
• Prime: a row of made points that blocks the opponent's escape.
• Builder: a spare checker positioned to help make a new point.
• Slot: to deliberately drop a single checker on a key point, hoping to cover it next turn.
• Pip count: the total distance all your checkers must still travel.
• Bear off: to remove checkers from the board once all are home.
• Gammon / Backgammon: a double win / a triple win (see above).
• Dancing: failing to re-enter from the bar because both entry points are blocked.
• Golden point: the 5-point — the single most valuable point to make.
• Lover's leap: the 6-5 opening, running a back checker 24/13.

Ready to play?

The fastest way to learn is to play. On BackgammonWorld the board highlights your legal moves, rolls the dice fairly, shows the live pip count, and lets you play the computer on three levels or a friend over a private link — all free, with no signup.