Backgammon – Game Rules
Objective
Be the first player to bear off (remove) all 15 of your checkers from the board.
Board Setup
The board is divided into 4 quadrants: top right, top left, bottom right, and bottom left. The center bar divides the left and right quadrants (positioned at the bottom on portrait devices).
- Your home is always in the bottom quadrants - bottom right by default, but you can swap to bottom left using the control button.
Dice Rolling
- Roll two dice at the start of your turn
- Rolling doubles grants four moves of that number
- Dice values show how many points a checker can move
- Dice are used one at a time and cannot be reused
Movement
- You move from your outer quadrants toward your home quadrant
- Your opponent moves in the opposite direction around the board
- Each die shows how many points to move in your direction
Landing and Hitting
- You can land on empty points or your own checkers
- Points with 2+ opponent checkers are blocked
- Landing on a single opponent checker sends it to the bar
Bar Re-entry
- Checkers on the bar must re-enter before making other moves
- Re-entry point in the opponent's home board is determined by your dice
- Cannot re-enter on points blocked by 2+ opponent checkers
Bearing Off
Removing your checkers from the board when they reach your home board.
- Only allowed when all your checkers are in your home board
- Use exact die value to bear off from matching point
- If die is higher than needed, bear off from furthest point (only if no checkers beyond it)
Must Use All Dice
You must use all available dice if any legal sequence exists. You cannot make moves that waste dice when other moves would use all dice.
Must Use Larger Die
When only one die can be played, you must use the larger one.
Minimize Distance (Pip) Waste
When bearing off with an overshoot die, you cannot waste pip value if an alternative sequence uses all dice with less waste.
Blocked Situations
If no legal moves are possible, your turn is automatically passed
Winning Conditions
Complete Bear Off (bear off all 15 checkers):
- 1x point - if opponent has borne off at least one checker
- 2x points (Gammon) - if opponent hasn't borne off any checkers
Timeout: 2x points (Gammon) when bank time expires - must be claimed
Surrender: 2x points (Gammon) if no checkers borne off, 1x otherwise
Timer System
- 11 seconds per turn
- 1 minute 30 second bank time reserve per player
- Turn time counts down first, then bank time is used
- When bank time is depleted, opponent must claim the win