Backgammon Basics
The Basics of Backgammon
If you're reading this you are probably thinking about trying your luck at the popular game of Backgammon!
At first instance it can seem a complicated game but like most things once you have learnt the basics you can pick up the rest as you play.
We at Freebetinfo have put together an over view of the game to help you get started, we hope you find it helpful and it gives you, the beginner a good insight into the game.
So!
Basically Backgammon is a game played by 2 people on a board with 24 triangles of alternating colours on it,these triangles are known as points and are grouped into 4 lots of 6 (2 lots for each player)
Each player has 15 checkers or markers each and a pair of dice. The board is split into sections and each player has a home board and an outer board ,they are seperated in the middle by a bar.
The initial arrangement of the checkers is, 2 checkers on the 24th point, 5 checkers on the 13th point, 3 checkers on the 8th point and 5 checkers on the 6th point.
The object of the game is to get all your checkers on your home board then bear them off ( remove them )
At the start ,each player rolls 1 dice, the player who has rolled the highest wins the throw and moves his checkers the total number of both dice. After this it's alternate goes throwing both dice.
You can only move your checkers forward and only to a point with no checkers on.The total of both dice can be added together to move one checker or you can take the total of each dice and move 2 checkers eg if you roll a 2 and a 6 you can move one checker 2 points and another 6 points or add the dice together and move one checker 8 points.
If you happen to roll a double you play the numbers twice eg roll 2 and 2 , you now have 4 2's to play.
If you have a point with only one checker on this becomes known as a blot, if anyone lands on this point the blot is then a hit and the checker must be placed on the bar.Once your checker is on the bar you must enter your checker into your opponents home board on an open point which corresponds to the numbers on the rolled dice .If the point is not open you miss a turn.
Once your checkers are all on your home board you can start bearing off .
You bear off by rolling the dice and removing the checker from the corresponding point .eg roll a 4 allows you to remove a checker from point 4 , if there is no checker on that point you are required to remove a checker from a higher numbered point ( must be a legal move)
The first player to bear off all his checkers is the winner!!
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