Backgammon vs Computer

How to play Backgammon

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world — a running battle between luck and judgement that has been played for roughly five thousand years. Two players race their fifteen checkers in opposite directions around a board of twenty-four triangular points, moving exactly what the dice allow. The dice bring chance, but every roll poses a real decision: run, hit, build a blockade or play safe. This version implements the full modern rules — blots, the bar, forced dice, exact bear-offs, gammon and backgammon wins — for two players on one screen, or against a computer opponent with three difficulty levels and ranking points. The doubling cube of money play is deliberately left out (see the FAQ), so every game is a single, complete race.

The goal

Bring all fifteen of your checkers around the board into your home board (your last six points), then remove them from the board — “bearing off”. The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins immediately. White races clockwise toward the bottom-right sextant of the board; Black races the opposite way toward the top-right. Your opponent is running through the same territory in the other direction, which is what makes the middle game a fight rather than a sprint.

Setup and the opening roll

Each player starts with the classic arrangement: two checkers on the opponent’s one-point (your 24-point, the farthest point from home), five on your 13-point (the midpoint), three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. To decide who begins, each player rolls a single die; ties are re-rolled. The player with the higher die starts — and plays the opening turn using both dice just rolled (their own and the opponent’s). After that, players alternate, rolling two dice at the start of every turn.

Moving, hitting and bearing off

• Each die moves one checker forward exactly that many points, always toward your home board. The two dice may move two different checkers, or the same checker in two steps — but each intermediate landing point must be open. A point holding two or more enemy checkers is blocked and cannot be landed on. Doubles are played four times: rolling 5-5 gives you four moves of five.
• You must play both dice if any way of doing so exists (all four on doubles). You may never “waste” a die voluntarily: if playing one die a certain way would make the other unplayable while a different order plays both, the wasteful move is illegal. If only one die can be played at all, and either die (but not both) could be played on its own, you are required to play the larger one. The app enforces all of this and only ever highlights safe, legal moves.
• A point holding exactly one enemy checker is a “blot”. Landing on a blot hits it: the enemy checker is placed on the bar in the middle of the board and must start its journey all over again. Hitting swings the race massively — a checker on the bar is 25 pips from home.
• A player with checkers on the bar must re-enter them before making any other move. Checkers enter in the opponent’s home board: the die value gives the entry point (a 3 enters on the opponent’s 3-point). If every entry point shown by your dice is blocked, you “dance” — your whole turn is lost, and the app passes it automatically.
• Only once all fifteen of your checkers are inside your home board may you bear off. A die removes a checker from the point of exactly that number (a 4 bears off the 4-point). A die higher than your highest occupied point may bear off from that highest point — but only if no checker sits on a higher point; otherwise you must move inside the board instead. If a checker is hit during the bear-off you must re-enter it and bring it home before you may continue bearing off.

Winning: single, gammon and backgammon

The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins on the spot — there are no draws in backgammon. The result banner also reports the margin. If the loser has not borne off a single checker, the win is a gammon, traditionally worth double. If, in addition, the loser still has a checker on the bar or inside the winner’s home board, it is a backgammon, worth triple. This version has no doubling cube, so the multipliers are shown for honour (and in the banner) rather than multiplying any stake — and in the ranked game the points awarded stay the same regardless of the margin.

Playing the computer (ranked)

In “Backgammon vs Computer” you choose your colour and one of three levels. Easy picks loosely among reasonable plays, so newcomers can win. Normal always makes the best positional play it can see: it counts pips, avoids leaving blots in range, makes points and builds its home board. Expert goes one step further and evaluates all twenty-one possible reply rolls your dice might answer with before committing. The computer thinks entirely on your device, so it works offline. Beat it to earn ranking points — Easy +10, Normal +30, Expert +100 — and sign in to put your best score on the leaderboard.

Strategy tips

• Make points, don’t stack checkers. Two checkers on a point own it forever; six checkers piled on one point do the work of two. The most valuable point on the board is your 5-point — grab it whenever the dice allow.
• Count shots before leaving a blot. A blot six or fewer pips in front of an enemy checker can be hit by a direct number; 6 is the most dangerous distance (17 rolls of 36) and 1 the safest of the direct shots (11 of 36). If you must leave a blot, leave it where the fewest rolls hit it — or so deep that being hit barely matters.
• Build primes. Several consecutive made points form a wall that enemy checkers cannot jump — six in a row (a full prime) is an unbreakable prison. Trapping even one checker behind a prime while you race home often decides the game.
• Let the pip count choose your plan. The pip counter under the board shows how many pips each side needs. If you are ahead in the race, simplify: break contact, run and bear off. If you are behind, do the opposite — hold anchors, keep contact and play for a hit.
• Keep an anchor while you are in danger. Two checkers on a point in the opponent’s home board (ideally their 4- or 5-point) give hit checkers a safe re-entry and threaten their bear-off. Never bury your back checkers so late that they get trapped behind a prime.

Frequently asked questions