Backgammon Online
The classic game of dice and strategy: bring your 15 checkers home and bear them all off before your opponent does.
Choose your opponent and the match length. The first to reach the points wins!
How to play backgammon
Each player has 15 checkers and moves in opposite directions. Roll both dice and move one checker by the number on each die (or the same checker twice). Doubles count four times: you move the number four times. You must use both dice when you can; if only one can be used, you must play the larger.
A lone checker on a point can be “hit”: it goes to the bar and must re-enter through the opponent’s home board before any other move. Points with two or more checkers of one player are closed to the other. When all your checkers are in your home board, you start bearing them off.
The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins: 1 point, 2 if the opponent has borne off none (a gammon) and 3 if the opponent still has a checker on the bar or in your home board (a backgammon). With the doubling cube, before rolling you can offer to double the stakes: the opponent accepts or resigns and loses the current value.
Frequently asked questions
Is backgammon the same game as gamão?
Yes. Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world. The rules here are the official tournament rules, with the doubling cube and the Crawford rule.
What is the Crawford rule?
When a player is 1 point away from winning the match, the next game is played without the doubling cube. That way the player who is behind cannot double right away to turn the match around.
How does the computer choose its moves?
It tries every legal move for each roll and rates each position: pip count, loose checkers that can be hit, closed points, primes and anchors. On the hard level it calculates exactly how many rolls hit each loose checker.