Learn How to Play Backgammon
The board game backgammon is among the oldest games known to man. It’s thought that early variants of the game were played in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Ancient Rome. Since then, the game has developed, changed names and spread to other parts of the world. It is presently a common pastime all over the US, East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
In order to play backgammon all you require is a partner, two dice and a specialised backgammon board with checkers. The backgammon board is split into two sides,each one is the mirror reflection of the other. Each side comprises 12 triangles called points numbered from 1 to 24.
Points 1 to 6: Home Board or Inner Board
Points 7 to 12: Outer Board
7 point: Bar Point
13 point: Mid Point
At the beginning position of the game, each player has 2 checkers on the 24 point, 3 checkers on the 8 point and 5 on the 13 and 6 point. Each player moves from his home board through the outer board towards the opponent home board.
The aim of backgammon, then, is to move your checkers toward your opposition home board and get rid of them off the board prior to your opponent moves his checkers toward your home board. The speed of the progress of each move is dictated by the outcome of the dice roll.
The backgammon play commences with both players tossing one die. The player whose result is the highest, makes the first move utilising both his and his opponents number. If the outcome of the dice toss is even, the players toss the dice once more until an uneven result comes out. From now on, each player tosses both dice on his turn.
After each toss of dice, you should move your checkers forward the number of steps appears on both dice. You are able to move either one checker the number of steps summed up by both die or move two checkers. To make it more decipherable: if the outcome of the dice roll is 5 and 4, you are able to either move one checker 9 steps forward or move one checker 5 steps forward and then move the other piece 4 steps forward
If the dice rolls a double, which means an even number on both dice, you are able to move double the number appears on the dice. For instance, if you roll double 2, you are able to move 2 points four times. In that case, you are able to either move one checker 8 steps forward; move two checkers a total of 4 steps; move two checkers a total of 2 steps each plus a total of 4 steps; move one checker a total of 6 steps plus 2 steps; or move four checkers 2 steps.
You are able to move a checker to a point where there’s another among your checkers or no more than one checker of your adversary, called blot. When you hit a blot, it’s moved to the center of the board to the part divided between the home board and the outer boards, called the bar.
The checkers placed on the bar are kept out of play until the bar can be entered by a dice roll in the opponent’s home boards. For instance, if you roll 2, you are able to enter a checker to the 23 point and enter the opponents home board and re enter the bar checkers into the game. You cannot move the other checkers unless your entire bar checkers are at your opponents home board.
By the time your checkers are in your home board, you must remove the checkers from the board, to bear off, using a roll of dice. For example, if you roll 1, you will be able to bear off one checker from the 1 point; if you roll 2, you are able to move a checker form the 2 point, and so forth.
If your adversary hasn’t borne off any checkers while you have borne off 15 checkers, you win the gammon. If your adversary hasn’t borne off any checkers and still some of his checkers are positioned on the bar, while you’ve borne off 15 checkers, then you win the backgammon.
Acey deucEy
Acey deucEy
Initial setup
The components of acey-deucey match those of backgammon, including identical boards, number of pieces, and dice. To begin the game, none of either player’s 15 checkers are on the board.
Opening play
The initial play is markedly different from that of standard backgammon. Play passes back and forth, with each player rolling both dice. No piece may be moved by a player until either both dice reveal the same number (doubles) or a roll of one ‘1′ and one ‘2′ is obtained (a roll of 1-2 is referred to as an acey-deucey). A player who rolls doubles may move a total of 4 times, each move traversing as many spaces as the rolled amount (two fives rolled result in four moves of five points each). Moving from the starting position counts as one space.
Although normally any piece may be moved legally, in acey-deucey, no piece on the board may be moved until all pieces belonging to the player in question have been moved from the starting position. After rolling these doubles, another turn is taken by the player. Upon rolling an acey-deucey, a player may move one piece one space, and one piece two spaces (may be the same piece as the earlier piece) and an additional four moves of a number to be chosen by the player. In other words, a 1-2 followed by any doubles. After rolling Acey-Deucey another turn is taken by the player. After this initial movement from the starting position, the player who rolled doubles or acey-deucey does not need to roll these specific values to move from the starting position, but if the other player has not yet rolled these specific values, the restrictions still apply.
Play
After the opening, gameplay is identical to that of backgammon, with some notable differences:
1. Upon rolling doubles or acey-deucey, the player must roll and move again.
2. A roll of acey-deucey counts as a 1-2, and as doubles of the player’s choice.
3. Upon reaching the one’s own home board, a piece may not be moved again until all others have arrived.
4. An exact roll is required to bear off.
Variant
A variant of the above rules exists that makes the game more restrictive.
1. Upon rolling acey-deucey, the player does not choose the doubles for his next move. Instead, he rolls one die and uses that number for the doubles choice
2. If a player rolls acey-deucey but is unable to utilize both the 1 and 2 (most likely because he is blocked), his turn ends. He does not get any doubles, and he does not get another roll.
3. If a player rolls doubles but is unable to utilize all 4 moves (most likely because he is blocked), his turn ends. He does not get another roll. This rule also holds for doubles following an acey-deucey
4. Pieces may be freely moved inside one’s home (bear-off) area until all other pieces have arrived. This is the opposite from the description above
5. Once all pieces have arrived to the player’s home area, they may not move any more.
6. Unlike regular backgammon, you may only bear off pieces that exactly match the dice roll. For instance, if the 6 and 5 points are open and you roll a 6-5, you may not use that roll to bear off a checker from the 4-point.
7. The ability to take extra rolls for doubles and acey-deucey during bearing off have the same rules stated above. If you roll an acey-deucey but cannot bear off a checker from both the 1-point and the 2-point, you are not entitled to a roll for doubles or another turn. If you roll a 6-6 and only have three checkers on your 6-point to bear off, you may not take another turn (although you can bear off the three checkers from that point).
Source : Wikipedia.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
doubling cube
doubling cube
To speed up match play and to provide an added dimension for strategy, a doubling cube is normally used. The doubling cube is a 6-sided die marked with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64. If a player believes his position to be superior, he may, before rolling the dice on his turn, double, demanding that the game be played for twice the current stakes. The doubling cube is then placed with the “2″ facing up to show that the game’s value has been doubled. His opponent must either accept the new stakes or resign the game immediately. Thereafter, the right to redouble belongs exclusively to the player who last accepted a double. When this occurs, the cube is placed with the face of the next power of two showing.
The game is rarely redoubled beyond four times the original stake, but there is no theoretical limit on the number of doubles. Although 64 is the highest number depicted on the doubling cube, the stakes may rise to 128, 256, 512 and so on.
In money games, a player is often permitted to “beaver” when offered a double, doubling the value of the game again, while retaining possession of the cube.
The Jacoby rule allows gammons and backgammons to count for their respective double and triple values only if there has been at least one use of the doubling cube in the game. This encourages a player with a large lead in a game to double, possibly ending the game, rather than to play the game to its conclusion in hopes of a gammon or backgammon. The Jacoby Rule is widely used in money play but is not used in match play.[15]
The Crawford rule is designed to make match play more equitable for the player in the lead. If a player is one point away from winning a match, his opponent has no incentive not to double; whether the game is worth one point or two, the outcome of the match is unaffected. To balance the situation, the Crawford rule requires that when a player first reaches a score one point short of winning the match, neither player may use the doubling cube for the following game, called the Crawford game. After the Crawford game, normal use of the doubling cube resumes. The Crawford rule is used in most match play.
Sometimes automatic doubles are used, meaning that any ties in the very first roll of the game automatically double the stakes. Thus, after a 3-3 roll, followed by a re-roll of 5-5, followed by a re-roll of 1-4 to begin the game itself, the game would be played for quadruple stakes. The doubling cube remains in the middle, with both players having access to it, and the Jacoby Rule is still in effect. Again, automatic doubles are common in money games. but they are rarely, if ever, used in match play.
Source : Wikipedia.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
