Backgammon Rules
Main Object of Backgammon
Backgammon is a
dice-and-board game for two players. Each player begins the game with
fifteen checkers of a different color from his opponent, a pair of
dice, a dice cup, and a doubling cube. Players move their checkers
around the board according to the roll of the dice. The first player
to get all of his checkers, or men, around and finally off the board
is the winner. How the game start
?
At the start of the backgammon game, each player rolls one die. Whoever rolls
higher starts his first turn using the numbers on the already-rolled
dice. In case of a tie, the players roll again. The players alternate
turns and roll two dice at the beginning of each turn after the first.
After rolling the dice a player must, if possible, move checkers the
number of points showing on each die. For example, if he rolls a 6 and
a 3, he must move one checker six points forward and another one three
points forward. The dice may be played in either order. The same
checker may be moved twice as long as the two moves are distinct: six
and then three, or three and then six, but not nine all at once.
If a player has no legal moves after rolling the dice, because all of
the points to which he might move are occupied by two or more enemy
checkers, he forfeits his turn. However, a player must play both dice
if it is possible. If he has a legal move for one die only, he must
make that move and then forfeit the use of the other die. (If he has a
legal move for either die, but not both, he must play the higher
number.)
If a player rolls two of the same number (doubles) he must play each
die twice. For example, upon rolling a 5 and a 5, he must play four
checkers forward five spaces each. As before, a checker may be moved
multiple times as long as the moves are distinct.
A checker may land on any point occupied by no checkers or by friendly
checkers. Also it may land on a point occupied by exactly one enemy
checker (a lone piece is called a blot). In the latter case the blot
has been hit, and is temporarily placed in the middle of the board on
the bar, i.e., the divider between the home boards and the outfields.
A checker may never land on a point occupied by two or more enemy
checkers. Thus no point is ever occupied by checkers from both players
at the same time.
Checkers on the bar re-enter the backgammon game through the opponent's home
field. A roll of 1 allows the checker to enter on the 24-point, a roll
of 2 on the 23-point, etc. A player with one or more checkers on the
bar may not move any other checkers until all of the checkers on the
bar have re-entered the opponent's home field.
When all of a player's checkers are in his home board, he may remove
them from the board, or bear them off. A roll of 1 may be used to bear
off a checker from the 1-point, a 2 from the 2-point, etc. A number
may not be used to bear off checkers from a lower point unless there
are no checkers on any higher points. For example, a 4 may be used to
bear off a checker from the 3-point only if there are no checkers on
the 4-, 5-, and 6-points.
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The doubling cube
To speed up match play and to increase the intensity of play and the
need for strategy, a doubling cube is usually used. A doubling cube is
a 6 sided die that instead of the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 on it, has
the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 on it. If a player believes his
position to be superior he may, before rolling the dice on his turn,
double.
The doubling cube is placed with the 2 side face up to show that the
game's value has been doubled. His opponent must either accept the
challenge or resign the backgammon game on the spot. Thereafter the right to
redouble (double again) belongs exclusively to the player who last
accepted a double. If this occurs, the cube is placed with the face of
the next power of 2 showing.
Bearing off
Once the program has
finished loading you can enter any backgammon position provided the
position not bearing off has 4 men or less. The side bearing off can
have from 1 to 15 men. The program will return two probabilities: one
for each side being on roll. These results are the probabilities that
the side bearing off will have a man hit.
After the probabilities are displayed, you are given a chance to find
the best move for the position you have just entered. Keep in mind that
the best move for the position bearing off is the one that leaves the
other side with the smallest probability of hitting a man. The best move
for the side in the backgammon game is the one that gives it the highest
probability of hitting a man.
Once a player has moved all of his fifteen
checkers into his home board, he may commence bearing off. A player
bears off a checker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on
which the checker resides, and then removing that checker from the
board. Thus, rolling a 6 permits the player to remove a checker from the
six point.
If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, the player
must make a legal move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. If
there are no checkers on higher-numbered points, the player is permitted
(and required) to remove a checker from the highest point on which one
of his checkers resides. A player is under no obligation to bear off if
he can make an otherwise legal move.
Figure 5. White rolls and bears off two checkers.
A player must have all of his active checkers in his home board in order
to bear off. If a checker is hit during the bear-off process, the player
must bring that checker back to his home board before continuing to bear
off. The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins the
backgammon game.
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