Spielanleitung
Spieleklassiker 4 in 1
GB
Art. Nr. 3491 Backgammon
Backgammon is one of the oldest board games for two players. The playing pieces are moved
according to the roll of dice, and a player wins by removing all of his pieces from the board before
his opponent.
Backgammon is a member of the tables family, one of the oldest classes of board games in the
world. Although luck is one of the determining factors in the outcome, strangely plays a more im-
portant role in the long run. With each roll of the dice, players must choose from numerous options
for moving their checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent. In variants that
originate from early 20th century New York, players may raise the stakes during the game. There is
an established repertoire of common tactics and occurrences.
Rules
Backgammon playing pieces are known variously as checkers, draught, stones, men, counters,
pawns, discs, pips, chips, or nips.
The objective is to remove (bear off) all of one´s own checkers from the board before one´s opponent
can do the same. The checkers are, in the most often-played variants, scattered at first, and may
be blocked or hit by the opponent. As the playing time for each individual game is short, it is often
played in matches, where victory is awarded to the first player to reach a certain number of points.
Setup
Each side of the board has a track of 12 long triangles, called points. The points are considered as
connected across one edge of the board, forming a continuous track in the shape of a horseshoe, and
are numbered from 1 to 24. In the most commonly used setup, players begin with two checkers in
their 24—points, three checkers in opposing directions, from the 24-point towards the 1-point.
Points 1 through 6 are called the home board or inner board, and points 7 through 12 are called the
outer board. The 7-point is referred to as the bar point, and the 13-point as the midpoint.
- To start the game, each player rolls one dice, and the player with the higher number moves first
using the numbers shown on both dice. If the players roll the same number, they must roll again as
the first move cannot be a doublet. Both dice must land completely flat on the right-hand side of the
game board. The players then alternate turns, rolling two dice at the beginning of each turn.
- After rolling the dice, players must, if possible, move their checkers according to the number shown
on each dice. For example, if the player rolls a 6 and a 3 (notated as “6-3”), the player must move
one checker six points forward, and another or the same checker three points forward. The same
checker may be moved twice as long as the two moves are distinct: six and then three, or three and
then six. If a player rolls two of the same number, called doubles, that player must play each dice
twice. For example, upon rolling a 5-5 that player may move up to four separate checkers forward
five spaces each. For any roll, if a player can make moves corresponding to the numbers on both
dice, that player is compelled to do so. If players cannot use the number from either dice in a roll,
given the position of their checkers, then that turn is over and the turn passes to the opponent. If
moves can be made according to either one die or the other, but not both, the higher number must
be used, If one die is unable to be moved, but such a move is made possible by the moving of other
die, that move is compulsory.
- In the course of a move, a checker may land on any point that is unoccupied or is occupied by one
or more of the player´s own checkers. It may also land on a point occupied by exactly one opposing
checker, or “blot”. In this case, the blot has been “hit”, and is placed in the middle of the board
on the bar that divides the two sides of the playing surface. A checker may never land on a point
occupied by two or more opposing checkers; thus, no point is ever occupied by checkers from both
players simultaneously.
- Checkers placed on the bar by being hit re-enter the game through the opponent´s home board.
A roll of 1 allows the checker to enter on the 24-point, a roll of 2 on the 23-point, and so forth, up
to a roll of 6 allowing entry on the 19-point. Checkers may not enter on points that are occupied
by two or more opposing checkers-these points are blocked. Checkers can enter on points occupied
by a single opposing checker-this opposing checker is hit and goes to the bar, then same as any
hit checker. More than one checker can be on the bar at a time. A player may not move any other
checkers until all checkers on the bar belonging to that player have re-entered the board. It the
opponent´s home board is completely “closed” (i.e. all six points are each occupied by two or more
checkers), there is no roll that would allow a player to enter a checker from the bar, and that player
stops rolling and playing until at least one point opens (occupied by one or zero checkers) as the
opponent bears off.
- When all of a player´s checkers are in that player´s home board, that player may start removing
them; this is called “bearing off”. A roll of 1 may be used to bear off a checker from the 1-point, a
2 from the 2-point, and so on. A dice may not be used to bear off checkers from a lower-numbered
point unless there are no checkers on my higher points. For example, if a player rolls a 6 and a 5, but
has no checkers on the 6-point, and 2 checkers remain on the 5-point, then the 6 and the 5 must be
used to bear off the 2 checkers from the 5-point. When bearing off, a player may also move a lower
dice roll before the higher even if that means, the full value of the higher dice is not fully utilized. For
example, if a player has exactly 1 checker remaining on the 6-point, and rolls a 6 and a 1, the player
may move the 6-point checker 1 place to the 5-point with lower dice roll of 1, and then bear that
checker off the 5-point using the dice roll of 6; this is sometimes useful tactically.
- If one player has not borne off any checkers by the time that player´s opponent has borne off all
fifteen, then the player has lost a gammon, which counts for double a normal loss. If the losing
player has not borne a backgammon, which counts for triple normal loss.
outer field Innerfield
white
black
black side
white side
5 Points Rackpoint
possible opening moves
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27755 Delmenhorst / Germany
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