Backgammon Articles

Our article library covers the game from every side: how the board and the rules work, how to choose a plan, how the game grew from ancient boards to modern tournaments, and how computers changed what we know about it. New to the game? Start with how to play and the opening moves, then pick any article below.

• Ancient history — Where backgammon came from: ancient race games like the Royal Game of Ur and senet, the Roman game tabula, Persian nard and the medieval tables games of Europe.
• Backgammon boom — How the internet opened backgammon to everyone: opponents at any hour, players from many countries, free study material and faster ways to improve.
• Backgammon on screen — Backgammon as a spectator game: streamed matches, live commentary and practical tips on how to follow a match and learn something from every game you watch.
• Basic strategy — New to backgammon? Learn five simple habits that win more games: safe points, smart blots, building a prime, choosing when to hit and keeping checkers flexible.
• Bill Robertie — Bill Robertie won the backgammon World Championship in 1983 and 1987 and wrote some of the most widely used books for players who want to improve.
• Billy Eisenberg — Billy Eisenberg was an American bridge champion who was also one of the top backgammon players of the 1960s and 1970s, the era of the game's great boom.
• Board set-up — Set up a backgammon board correctly: which way it faces, how the points are numbered, where the 30 checkers go, and why mirrored set-ups are just as legal.
• Bots and theory — How neural-network programs, rollouts and analysis tools like GNU Backgammon and eXtreme Gammon changed backgammon theory and the way players study.
• Chris Bray — Chris Bray is a British backgammon player and writer, known for Backgammon for Dummies and a long-running newspaper column on the game and its strategy.
• Computer backgammon — A short history of computer backgammon: BKG beating Luigi Villa in 1979, TD-Gammon and self-taught neural nets, and the analysis tools players use today.
• Constant action — Why backgammon never gets dull: a decision on every roll, open information, the doubling cube in match play, tense races, back games and last-roll finishes.
• First game directions — Playing backgammon for the first time? Follow these step-by-step directions from setting up the board to the opening roll, hitting, entering and bearing off.
• Free practice — How to practice backgammon for free: games with friends and family, local clubs, playing against free software, solving problems and reviewing your own matches.
• Key points — Learn the names and roles of the key backgammon points: the golden 5-point, the bar point, the midpoint, the ace point and the anchors in the opponent's board.
• Luck vs skill analysis — How backgammon software measures luck and skill: equity, luck per roll, error rates and luck-adjusted results, in plain terms with GNU Backgammon and XG.
• Modern history — The modern history of backgammon: Hoyle's 1743 treatise, the origin of the name, the doubling cube of the 1920s, the 1960s boom, Monte Carlo and computer bots.
• Online tournaments — A guide to online backgammon tournament formats: knockouts, Swiss and round robin events, how match length is chosen, and how game clocks work online.
• Quick tips — Ten short, practical backgammon tips: opening moves, the 5-point, pip counts, safe bearing off, blot hitting and how to use the doubling cube in match play.
• Rule variations — Backgammon rule variations explained: the Crawford and Holland rules in matches, the Jacoby rule, and variants such as nackgammon, hypergammon and acey-deucey.
• Rules Cheat Sheet — A one-page backgammon rules cheat sheet: setup, opening roll, legal moves, doubles, the bar, bearing off, scoring and the doubling cube in short points.
• Rules and myths — Many casual players get a few backgammon rules wrong. Check the most common mistakes: using both dice, the larger number rule, bearing off and doubles.
• Study plan — A practical study plan for getting better at backgammon: play many games, review mistakes, solve problems, read good books and check play with software.
• Tournaments — How backgammon tournaments work: matches to a set score, scoring gammons and the cube, the Crawford rule, and why match play differs from single games.
• War and backgammon — Backgammon borrows the language of strategy: blockades, timing, retreat and holding ground. See how these ideas work on the board and how the dice test them.
• World champions — The Backgammon World Championship has been held in Monte Carlo since 1979. Learn how the event works, what it takes to win and who its early champions were.