Rules of Backgammon
Backgammon is a board game designed for two players. It is an exciting blend of luck and skill that has been played for many centuries. The history of the game of backgammon dates back to the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. Backgammon boards are made from a variety of materials and are available in many sizes ranging from inexpensive travel sets to custom made professionally crafted boards. The board itself is a specially designed board consisting of 24 triangles in alternating colours, called points. The board is divided into four quadrants and each quadrant has six points. The points start from the edge of the board nearest the players and are directed inwards so that they form two rows of twelve points opposite each other. You and your opponent each have a home (inner) board and an outer board which are separated by a raised section called the bar. To play you require 30 checkers (also referred to as men, pieces, stones or counters) 15 of one colour and 15 of another; 2 dice (preferably two pairs - a pair for each player); two dice shakers and a doubling cube. A doubling cube is an oversized 6-sided die with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 on the six faces. This die is used to keep track of the number of points or units at stake in a game.
At the beginning of the game, both players throw a single die. The player throwing the higher number moves first using their number and the number of their opponent's die to move the checkers. If the same number come up on both die, the players re-roll until they are different. After the first move, players alternate turns by rolling their own dice. Pieces can only move in one direction - from the opponent's inner table through the opponent's outer table, back through the player's outer table and finishing in the player's inner (home) table. Each player attempts to move all his pieces into the inner table nearest to him (his home table) and once that is achieved to move all his pieces off the board. White pieces move in a clockwise direction, black move in a counter-clockwise direction. Once all the checkers are in the home board, players can begin to bear off - that is to move all their pieces off the board. The bear off is the final stage of the game when you remove your checkers from your home board but you cannot start this process until all 15 of your checkers have made it to your home board. The first person to bear off all 15 of their checkers wins the game.
The checkers must always be moved forward around the board according to the numbers shown on the dice. The numbers on the dice are two separate moves. One checker can be moved the full amount or each of the two numbers can be moved with two separate checkers. For example, if you throw a 5 and a 2 you can either move one checker 7 spaces, or move one checker 5 spaces and another checker 2 spaces. You may move a checker to any point occupied by your own checkers or to a point occupied by one or none of your opponent's checkers on it. A checker may not be moved to a point with 2 or more of your opponent's checkers on it. A single checker on a point is called a blot. Since men of opposite colours may not occupy the sae point, when an opponent lands on a blot it is removed and replaced with their own. This is called a hit and the removed checker is placed on the bar. The bar is the middle strip that separates the inner and outer board and once a checker is placed there, it remains out of play until it can be entered in the opponent's inner board by a throw of the dice. The playing time for each individual game of Backgammon is fairly short and so Backgammon is often played in sets and matches.
There are some general rules of etiquette to follow when playing Backgammon:
1. The dice must be rolled on the player's right hand side of the board.
2. The dice must be rolled together and land flat on the board. They must be re-rolled if one of the dice lands outside of the board or unevenly.
3. The turn is not over until the player picks up their dice and a player may not roll until the other player has completed their move and picked up their dice.
4. If a player rolls before their opponent picks up their dice, they may have to roll again at the discretion of their opponent.
5. If there is a move played that is not legal, either player may correct the play as long as the correction occurs before the next player rolls. Any errors not corrected before then, remain as played.
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