A complete guide: the goal, rolling the dice, moving checkers, the bar and bearing off, controls on muta.pro and tips for beginners. Read it — and straight to the board.
Backgammon is a race between two players on a board of 24 points. Each has 15 checkers that move toward the opponent — each toward its own home (the last quarter of the board). Once all your checkers are gathered in the home, you begin bearing them off. Whoever removes all 15 checkers first wins. The roll of the dice sets the options, but the outcome is decided by calculation and the skill of building a position.
The board is divided by the central bar into two halves, each into two quadrants of 6 points. The checkers are set up in the standard starting position: the main groups on the far points and blockades closer to the center. Light and dark checkers move in opposite directions. Before the start, each player sees their own set of 15 checkers, the tray for bearing off, and the doubling cube.
On your turn you roll two dice. The numbers that come up are two separate moves: you can move one checker twice or two different checkers once each.
A checker advances forward by as many points as the number shown on the die. You may move only toward your own home, jumping over points occupied by your opponent.
If the same number comes up on both dice, that is a double — it gives four moves instead of two. For example, double fours is four moves of four points each.
A point holding two or more of the opponent's checkers is closed — you cannot land on it. Several closed points in a row form a blockade that is hard to pass through.
A lone opponent's checker on a point can be hit — it goes to the bar. While a checker is on the bar, the player must first bring it back into play and only then move the others.
Once all 15 checkers are gathered in the home, start bearing them off according to the numbers on the dice. Whoever removes all their checkers from the board first wins the game.
A few typical situations on the board. Your checkers are light, the opponent's are dark. The dashed outline shows the point the move is heading to.
The game is won as soon as one of the players has borne off all 15 checkers. In match play, points are awarded for each win, and the doubling cube lets you raise the stakes: the opponent either accepts the double and continues playing for a higher value, or declines and concedes the current point. The match runs to a pre-agreed number of points.
Two or more closed points in a row make it harder for the opponent to bring checkers through. The longer the blockade, the stronger the pressure.
A lone checker on a point is vulnerable — it can be hit to the bar. Cover important points with pairs.
A double gives four moves — a chance to quickly seize key points or break ahead in the race.
If you are ahead in the number of points travelled — simplify the position and run. If behind — play for holding and hitting.
Even a won race is often lost during the bear-off because of wastage — when the number on the die is greater than the farthest checker needs, and the "excess" pips burn away for nothing. The goal of a clean bear-off is to spend every roll so that no pip is wasted and no empty points form in your home.
The main technique is to fill the gaps. If an inner point is empty while surplus checkers sit on the far ones, don't bear off from the near point with a larger number — instead slide the far ones down, closing the holes. Then any future big roll will surely bear a checker off rather than burn out.
Points 5 and 3 are empty (highlighted): you rolled 5-3 — don't bear off, fill the gaps with 6→5 and 4→3 so that big rolls later won't burn out.
Try to keep roughly equal numbers of checkers on all six points. An even home board bears off faster and with almost no wastage.
A thick stack on the 6 point is a source of wastage: small numbers don't touch it. Unload it in advance, before the bear-off even begins.
A crossover is a checker moving from one quadrant to the next. Fewer crossovers to the home — the sooner you start bearing off. It's a rough but quick estimate of the race.
Two dice give 36 equally likely combinations. Understanding how often the distance you need comes up matters more than intuition: it tells you where it is safer to place a blot and which point you can realistically close next turn.
A direct number (1–6) can be covered with a single die. A combined one (7–12) requires the sum of two dice and is therefore rarer and more easily blocked by a blockade. Leaving a blot at a combined distance from the enemy is almost always safer than at a direct one.
Number of hits out of 36 by distance: for 1 — 11 rolls, for 6 — 17 (the maximum for direct numbers), for 7 — also 6, and falling off after that. A blot right up close (17) is more dangerous than a blot across half the board.
A distance of 6 is hit by 17 rolls out of 36 — nearly half. When moving a checker out of harm's way, remember: taking it "six forward" often doesn't save it.
A double comes up on average once in six. When planning a wall, allow for the opponent suddenly getting four moves and jumping over an incomplete prime.
Before leaving a blot, estimate the number of hitting combinations. 6 out of 36 is tolerable, 17 out of 36 — you'll almost certainly get hit.
Every move is a choice between two plans: the race (running straight for home) and positional play (holding an anchor and hunting for a hit). A mistake in choosing the plan is costlier than any single bad move: you either run when you should hold, or cling to contact in a position already lost on pips.
The guideline is simple. If you lead noticeably on pips — break contact and run, leaving no blots. If you are behind — don't run: hold your anchor in the opponent's home and build a wall, because without a hit the deficit can't be made up.
Anchor: your pair on the opponent's 20 point (highlighted). While it stands, the opponent can't safely bear off nearby — hold it when behind and don't run.
What matters is not your pip count in itself, but the gap with the opponent and your own score. A small gap in a long race decides nothing yet.
While behind, the anchor in the enemy's home is your only source of hits. Leave it too early and you're left with neither the race nor the contact.
In a won race, avoid unnecessary contact and blots. Every hit you leave gives the opponent back a chance they no longer had on the score.
The most galling category of losses is bearing off with the opponent's anchor still alive in your home. Here you can't bear off "greedily": a wrong move exposes a point, the opponent hits your checker, and it travels across the whole board to the bar — a nearly lost game out of a won one.
The rule is simple: while an enemy anchor sits nearby, bear off in a way that leaves no blots under the gun. Often it is better not to bear a checker off at all, but to "load" it deeper into the home, keeping all points closed.
You rolled 3: the 3 point has a single checker (highlighted). Bear it off and the point opens and the opponent's anchor hits. Better to slide the checker from the 6 point to the 3, keeping the home closed.
Before ending your turn, estimate which number the opponent would punish you with hardest. Often there is an equivalent move that removes that risk.
Under contact, an even, fully closed home is worth more than a couple of borne-off checkers. One hit in the endgame costs more than two or three moves saved.
If the opponent's anchor is already on the bar and your home is closed across all six points, they sit with no moves. Bear off unhurriedly, opening up last of all.