Backgammon Directions: Your First Game, Step by Step

The full rules of backgammon fit on a page or two, but reading them is not the same as playing. These directions walk you through a first game in the order things actually happen at the board, so you can sit down with a friend and play right away. For the complete rulebook, see how to play backgammon.

Step 1: Lay out the board

Sit across from your opponent with the board between you. The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, split into four quarters of six by the bar in the middle. Each of you takes fifteen checkers of one color and places them the same way from your own side: two on your 24-point, five on your 13-point, three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. Your home board is the quarter that holds your 6-point. If you are unsure which way the board should face, our board set-up guide covers orientation and numbering.

Step 2: Know where you are going

You move your checkers from your 24-point toward your 1-point, always to lower numbers. Your opponent moves the other way around the board. The goal is to bring all fifteen checkers into your home board and then take them off. Whoever removes all fifteen first wins.

Step 3: Roll for the first move

Each player rolls one die. The higher number goes first and plays the two numbers just rolled, one from each die. If the dice match, roll again. From then on, players take turns rolling both dice.

Step 4: Play each turn

1. Roll two dice. Each die is a separate move: with 5-2 you move one checker five points and one checker two points, or one checker seven points in two steps.
2. Each step must land on an open point: empty, holding your own checkers, or holding just one enemy checker.
3. If you roll a double, you play that number four times. A roll of 4-4 lets you move four steps of four.
4. Play both numbers if you legally can. If no legal move exists, your turn passes.

Step 5: Hitting and the bar

A single checker on a point is a blot. If you land on an opponent's blot, it is hit and goes to the bar. Two or more checkers on a point make it safe: nobody can land there. A player with a checker on the bar must bring it back in before moving anything else. It enters in the opponent's home board on the point that matches a number rolled, counting from that board's far edge, as long as the point is open. If neither number gives an open point, the whole turn is lost.

Step 6: Bring everyone home

For most of the game you will be racing, blocking and trying to avoid being hit. Making points, especially in your home board and next to it, slows your opponent down. A few simple habits help a lot here; our basic strategy page lists them.

Step 7: Bear off

Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you can start removing them. A roll of 6 takes a checker off the 6-point, a 3 takes one off the 3-point, and so on. You may also use a roll to move a checker inside your home board instead of removing one. If a checker of yours is hit while you are bearing off, it must come back around to your home board before you continue.

Step 8: Score the game

The first to bear off all checkers wins. If the loser has not borne off any checkers, the win is a gammon and counts double. If the loser still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, it is a backgammon and counts triple. In match play the doubling cube can raise the value further, but for a first game you can leave it out and simply play to win.

After the first game

Play a few more games before worrying about strategy. The movement soon becomes automatic, and then the interesting decisions start: when to take a risk, when to play safe and how to use your rolls well.