| Backgammon Objective
To win, be the first player to move all your stones around the board to your home table, and then bear them off the board before your opponent bears off his or her own.
The Basics
Boards & pieces: Backgammon is played by two players on a board with pieces that look like checkers, called stones. Each player has 15 stones of one color that are placed along the 24 points (the triangular spaces) on the board. The board center partition, called the bar, divides the board into two halves, or tables.
Setup
In the game room, the player in the left chair is the host. The host uses the New Game Setup dialog box to choose the color of the stones, the value of the game, and whether automatic doubling will be used (turned off by default).
The pip count is the total number of points you must move your stones to bring them home and bear them off. At the start of a game, each player's pip count is 167 points. The pip counter displays each player's descending pip count. The pip count is optional and may be turned on or off.
Playing Backgammon
The game begins with each player rolling a single die. The player with the higher number goes first, moving the stone(s) according to the number of spots, or pips, showing on both dice. For example, if you roll a 5 and your opponent rolls a 3, you use both numbers, 5 and 3, to move your stone(s). You can move one stone eight spaces or one stone three and another five spaces. The players then alternate turns, each rolling his or her own two dice. | | |
| · If the numbers on the starting roll are the same, and automatic doubling is selected, then the value of the game increases. If the game value has been set at 1 point, the game is now worth 2 points. If both players again roll the same number, the value of the game increases to 4 points. | | |
