The object of the game is for each player to bring all his checkers into his home board, and then to bear them off the board. The first player to clear all his checkers off the board is the winner.

Using GammonEmpire’s Software

Backgammon is a game for two players, played on a board of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. Each player has fifteen stones of one color (light or dark) that are placed along the boards' 24 points. Points alternate in color and are grouped into four quadrants of six points each. Quadrants are referred to as a players' home board and outer board. The board is divided in half by a center partition called the bar. All points on a backgammon board are distinguished by numbers. A players' outermost point is the twenty-four point, which is also his opponents' one point. A doubling cube, with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64, is used to keep track of the current stake of the game.

To launchthe game, each player rolls a single dice. This determines both the player to go first and the numbers to be played. If equal numbers come up, then both players roll again until they roll different numbers. The player who throws the highest number moves first according to the number displayed on the dice. After the first roll, the players throw both dice and alternate turns. The roll of the dice indicates how many points (or pips) a player can move his stones. Stones are always moved forward, to a lower-numbered point. The following rules apply: A stone can only be moved to an open point (one not occupied by two or more opposing stones).

The numbers on the two dice represent separate moves. For example, if a player rolls 5 and 3, he may move one stone five spaces to an open point and another stone three spaces to an open point, or he may move the one stone a total of eight spaces to an open point, but only if the intermediate point (either three or five spaces from the starting point) is also open. A player who rolls doubles plays the numbers shown on the dice twice. A roll of 6 and 6 means that the player has four sixes to use, and he may move any combination of stones he feels appropriate to complete this move. A player must use both numbers of a roll if legally possible (and all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be played, the player must play that number. If either number can be played, but not both, a player must play the higher one. When either number can't be used, a player loses his turn. In the case of doubles, when all four numbers can't be played, a player must play as many numbers as he can.

Playing Backgammon for Play Money

Play and practice Backgammon for fun and enhance your skill at the game. Once you've mastered the basics of the game you can move up and play to win real money. The game rules are exactly the same as they are in Real Money

Playing Backgammon for Real Money

Playing Backgammon on Gammonempire is exactly the same as in real life, only you get to meet exciting people from all over the world and play against them for Real Money. Before playing Backgammon for Real money, you need to deposit money into your account. There are two ways to start playing for Real money after depositing money; joining an existing table or creating a table. In both ways there is a stake involved in the game and the winner takes everything and pays a small fee.

Hitting and Entering

A point occupied by a single stone of either color is called a blot. If an opposing stone lands on a blot, the blot is hit and placed on the bar. Anytime a player has one or more stones on the bar, his first obligation is to enter that stone(s) into the opposing home board. A stone is entered by moving it to an open point corresponding to one of the numbers on the rolled dice. For example, if a player rolls 4 and 6, he may enter a stone onto either the opponents' four point or six point, so long as the prospective point is not occupied by two or more of his opponents' stones. If neither of the points is open, the player loses his turn. If a player is able to enter some but not all of his stones, he must enter as many as he can and then forfeit the remainder of his turn. After the last of a players' stones has been entered, any unused numbers on the dice must be played.

Bearing Off

Once a player has moved all of his fifteen stones into his home board, he can begin bearing off. A player bears off a stone, by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on which the stone resides, and then removing that stone from the board. If there is no stone on the point indicated by the roll, the player must make a legal move using a stone on a higher-numbered point. If there are no stones on the higher-numbered points, the player can remove a stone from the next highest point. A player is under no obligation to bear off if he can make an otherwise legal move. A player must have all of his active stones in his home board in order to bear off. If a stone is hit during the bear-off process, the player must bring that stone back to his home board before continuing to bear off.

The Doubling Cube

Backgammon is played for an agreed wager (or number of points in the tournament play). During the course of the game, a player who feels he has a sufficient advantage may propose doubling his stakes. He may do so, only at the start of his turn, and before he has rolled the dice. A player who is offered a double may refuse, in which case he concedes the game and pays the original wager. Otherwise, he must accept the double and play on for the new higher stakes. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the cube and only he may make the next double. Subsequent doubles in the same game are called redoubles. If a player refuses a redouble, he must pay the wager that was at stake prior to the redouble. Otherwise, he becomes the new owner of the cube and the game continues at twice the previous stakes. Redoubles can increase up to 64 times the original wager.

Gammons and Backgammons

At the end of the game, if the losing player has borne off at least one stone, he loses only the value showing on the doubling cube (the original wager or one point if there have been no doubles). However, if the loser has not borne off any of his stones, he is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling cube. More so, if the loser has not borne off any of his stones and still has a stone on the bar or in the winners' home board, he is backgammoned and loses three times the value of the doubling cube.

Give it a try