Backgammon Rules
Backgammon is a mixture of skill and luck.
It is a game for 2 players with 15 checkers each on a board consisting of 24 colored triangiar spaces known as points. The board has 4 sections: home board and outer board, and the opponent's home board and outer board, the home and outer boards are divided by a section that runs through the middle of the board know as the bar. Two dice are rolled to determine the amount of points the checkers are moved to. The players attempt to be the first to bring all their checkers onto their home section and bear them off before his opponent does, at times employing the strategy of hitting and blocking their opponents checkers to slow them down.
Starting the game
Each player casts one die. The player with the higher number makes the first move, using the two numbers cast by his die and his opponent's. In the event that both players roll the same number, it is a standoff and each rolls another die to determine the first move. In the event of subsequent ties, this process is repeated until the dice turn up different numbers. (In some games, players double the unit stake automatically every time they cast the same number; others limit the automatic doubles to one. In tournament play, there is no such thing as an automatic double.)
Moving your men
Each player's turn consists of the roll of two dice. He then moves one or more men in accordance with the numbers cast. Assume he rolls 4-2. He may move one man six spaces, or one man four spaces and another man two spaces. Bear in mind that, when moving a single man for the total shown by the two dice, you are actually making two moves with the one man---each move according to the number shown on one of the dice.
Doublets
If the same number appears on both dice, for example, 2-2 or 3-3 (known as doublets), the caster is entitled to four moves instead of two. Thus, if he rolls 3-3, he can move up to four men, but each move must consist of three spaces.
The players throw and play alternately throughout the game, except in the case where a player cannot make a legal move and therefore forfeits his turn.
Hitting and Entering
A point occupied by a single checker of either color is called a blot. If an opposing checker lands on a blot, the blot is hit and placed on the bar.
Any time a player has one or more checkers on the bar, he must first re-enter those checker(s) into the opposing home board (effectively staring from the beginning) A checker 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 checker onto either the opponent's four point or six points, so long as the prospective point is not occupied by two or more of the opponent's checkers, if they are then the player loses his turn.
Bearing Off
Once a player has moved all of his fifteen checkers into his home board, he may begin 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; i.e. rolling a 6 allows the player to remove a checker from the sixth 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.
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 game.
Gammon and Backgammon
If you bear off all 15 of your men before your opponent has borne off a single man, you win a gammon, or double game.
If you bear off all 15 of your men before your opponent has borne off a single man, and he still has one or more men in your home board or on the bar, you win a backgammon, or a triple game
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