How to play: Backgammon

The series "How to play", began with a game from the Mancala family. This is now the second episode, with Backgammon under the spotlight.

Easy to learn, fast to play, containing a dash of luck, aesthetically beautiful, pleasing to the touch and ear, this game for two truly suits all player profiles, besides being an excellent choice as travel companion.

Backgammon is an abstract game where dice are used to define the movement of pieces around the board, thus making it more appealing for those fancying some unpredictability and not as keen to dive into the "pure" confrontation, typical of complete information games, such as Chess or Go. This does not mean, by far, that it relies on luck or that there is no place for calculations and probability analysis, if you feel inclined to do so!

I can't find better words than those in "Alfonso X's Book of games", about one of the predecessors of the current version of backgammon: “The third who said that it was best to draw from both brought the tables board with its pieces counted and placed orderly in their spaces and with its dice which move them in order to play, as is shown in this book which speaks separately about this and which teaches that through their play, he that knows how to play them well, even though the luck of the dice be against him, that because of his prudence he will be able to play his pieces in such a manner as to avoid the harm that may come to him through the rolls of the dice."

Material

• a playing board composed of 24 spaces, represented by arrows of alternating colors or shades, in order to facilitate the counting of movements, grouped into four sets of 6 arrows (that we shall designate “inner” for the first one in the path, and “outer” for the last one, just before the exit);
• 15 pieces (also known as "men") per player;
• 2 dice per player (or 2 dice shared by both);
• 1 doubling die, with values 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 on the six faces.

Setup

• place the board between the two players;
• chose or draw colours;
• each player receives 2 dice;
• the doubling die (if used) is placed on the central bar or next to the board;
• all pieces are placed according to the layout of the following image, also showing the direction of movement for the pieces of each color.

Objective
Be the first to remove all your pieces from the board. But beware, it is only possible to start removing pieces upon placing them all in your outer table (last 6 arrows).

Sequence of play

• each player rolls a die;
• the starting player is the one who obtained the highest result (repeat in case of equality);
• the starting player uses the results of the two dice to move their pieces;
• after making all the moves, or when no more moves can be made, the turn ends;
• from here on, and until the end of the game, each player rolls two dice and moves their pieces.

Movement basics

• each player uses the result of two dice to move their pieces;
• each player's pieces move forward along the direction indicated above, and may never retreat;
• each die is used individually to make a movement, which consists of advancing a single piece the total number of arrows indicated;
• the moving piece can jump over other pieces, of any colour, still counting those arrows as movement points;
• arrows can only contain pieces of one color (see occupied arrows and hitting);
• there is no limit to the number of pieces each arrow may contain;

• a single piece can be moved twice, by sequentially using both dice, or two pieces can be moved once, by allocating one die to each;
• the dice results may not be added up into a single movement value, nor a die result can be split among multiple pieces;
• it is mandatory to use a selection of movements that enables the use of both dice, whenever possible;
• if it is not possible to use both dice, the highest value shall be used.

Doubles

• If the dice roll outcome is a double, such as 2-2, the number of moves is doubled, meaning the player shall make, in this example, 4 movements of 2 arrows each. 

Occupied arrows

• when an arrow contains two or more pieces, it is occupied by that player;
• a piece movement may not end on an arrow occupied by the opponent;
• whenever all possible moves end in arrows occupied by the opponent, then the player in turn cannot make any move and must pass, ending their turn.

Hitting

• it is only possible to hit isolated pieces;
• an isolated piece is hit when an opposing piece finishes its movement on that same arrow;
• the piece which was hit is placed on the center bar.

Reentry

• pieces that were hit must re-enter into play through the inner table of the player, by using a die value, as normal;
• a player whose pieces have been hit must re-enter them all, in their turn, before moving any other piece;

• if it is not possible to complete the re-entry, no further moves are allowed and the player must pass, ending their turn.

Bearing off

• after all the pieces of the same color are in the outer table (the last 6 arrows), bearing off may begin;
• as a rule, a piece is borne off using a die with the exact value of the number of remaining arrows to the board exit;
• doubling rule also applies during bearing off;
• if a piece is captured while in the outer table, it will re-enter through the inner table, as usual, and bearing off is suspended until it reaches again the final 6 arrows;

it is not mandatory to borne off pieces, one being allowed to make moves within the outer table;

• the player must spend all the points of both dice whenever possible;
• whenever that is not possible, the die is used to borne off the piece furthest away from the exit point.

End of the game

• when a player removes their last piece from the game board, the game immediately ends, and that player is the winner.

Final score

• Simple, 1 point, the defeated player managed to borne off at least one piece;
• Double, Gammon, 2 points, the defeated player failed to borne off any pieces;
• Triple, Backgammon, 3 points, the defeated player failed to borne off any pieces and still has at least one piece in their inner table.

Doubling die (optional)

• the game has a starting value of 1;
• the doubling die may be used by any player;
• on a game turn, before rolling the dice, a player may attempt to double the game value, by taking the doubling die and offering it to the opponent, with the face 2 visible;
• if the opponent refuses to take the die, then he immediately forfeits the match, and a single point is awarded to the winner;
• if the opponent accepts, taking the die, then the base value of the match becomes 2;
• only the player in possession of the die can double again the match value;
• if the game comes to the normal end, with one player bearing off all the 15 pieces, the points awarded to the winner are obtained multiplying the corresponding final score by the value on the doubling die.

Example: A player bornes off all their pieces; the opponent does not borne off any but has some in advanced positions; the doubling die shows the value 4, as each player doubled once during the course of the game. The winner gets 2 [final score, gammon] x 4 [die value] = 8 points.

Backgammon will be back, featuring some notes on strategy and calculations: symmetry and asymmetry, walls and builders, to capture or not to capture, fight or run, accelerate or slow down, risk management.

Until then, let’s roll the dice and give it a try!