Backgammon Set

The rules below follow the official version used by the US Backgammon Federation, so that a first-time player can sit down at the Pebble Backgammon Set and begin a game with confidence. 

The goal 
Each player begins with fifteen checkers, scattered across the board. The aim is to move all fifteen into your own home quarter, then bear them off, that is, remove them from the board entirely. The first player to bear off all fifteen checkers wins the game. 

The board 
The board is divided into twenty-four narrow triangles, called points, grouped into four quarters of six points each. A raised ridge down the center, the bar, separates the two halves and gives the game its name: a checker sent there must re-enter play before its owner can make any other move. 

Setup 
Each player's fifteen checkers begin in the same pattern, mirrored across the board: two on the twenty-four-point, five on the thirteen-point, three on the eight-point, and five on the six-point. Checkers move in opposite directions, toward each player's own home quarter. 

Playing a turn 
Roll two dice and move your checkers that many points toward home. Each die is a separate move, though the two can combine into one longer move if the point between them is open. Roll a double, matching numbers on both dice, and you play that number four times instead of twice, a small piece of luck that can shift the whole game. 

Hitting 
A point held by a single checker is exposed. Land on it, and that checker is hit: sent to the bar, where it stays until its owner rolls a number that lets it re-enter through the opponent's home quarter. Until it re-enters, its owner cannot make any other move. 

Bearing off 
Once all fifteen checkers have reached home, bearing off can begin: roll the dice and remove a checker from the point that matches each number, or from the highest remaining point if none sits exactly there. The first player to bear off all fifteen ends the game. 

Winning 
A standard win is worth one point. Win before your opponent bears off a single checker, and it counts as a gammon, worth double. Win while your opponent still has a checker on the bar or in your home quarter, and it counts as a backgammon, worth triple. 

The doubling cube 
Advanced players raise the stakes with the doubling cube, a die marked two through sixty-four that either player can offer, before rolling, to double the value of the game. It's worth knowing once the core rules feel natural, but has no bearing on how a beginner should learn to play.