Learn Backgammon
Review the goal through a picture story, then work through the chapters you need one at a time.
A two-player game in which you roll two dice, move your checkers, block your opponent, and win by bearing off all your checkers first.
The stars of this game
Explore all 4 pieces, cards, tiles, and adopted roles in order. Pause autoplay or choose any item from the list.
White checkers
Skills and characteristicsWhite's 15 checkers. Bear them all off first.
Learning
Move, hit, bear off, cube
Learn the 24-point progression, the bar, bearing off, and the doubling cube.
Roll two dice, move your 15 checkers, hinder your opponent, and bear off all your checkers first.
- Article Bear Off All Your Checkers First
- Move sequence Advance only by the dice roll
- Move sequence Bear Off All Your Checkers
- Multiple choice Hit a single opposing checker
- Move sequence Make a Point with Two or More Checkers
Learn game plans and cube decisions for race, prime, blitz, and similar positions.
- Article Choose the Right Game Plan and Cube Action for the Position
- Article Use five game plans as needed
- Article Measure the race gap with pip count
- Article The Basics of the Doubling Cube
Backgammon Basics
Choose a step in the inline tutorial below to review the flow.
Moving checkers and winning
Open it only when you need to check something.
Dice and bearing off
Standard human-readable notation
W[31hefe]
Count from 24 down to 1 in your direction of play, using bar and off.
Dice
Move by the dice values Use the two dice on different checkers or combine them on the same checker.Points
Two or more checkers block a point An opponent cannot enter a point occupied by at least two of your checkers.Hit
Capture a lone checker Land on an opposing blot to send it to the bar.Bar
No other checker can move until it re-enters A checker that was hit re-enters from the opponent's home board.Bear off
Move every checker off the board After bringing all your checkers into your home board, move them off the board.Using the dice
- You may use the two dice in either order. Doubles give four moves.
- When legal moves exist, use as many dice values as possible.
Hitting and bearing off
- Landing on a point with one opposing checker sends that checker to the bar.
- Bring all your checkers into your home board, then bear them off.
Next step
Choose after the tutorialOnce you are comfortable moving pieces, review anything that was unclear or practice your decisions with a short problem.