Backgammon Rules: Learn How to Play Backgammon

The board game backgammon is one of the most ancient games known to man. It is believed that early variations of the game were played in Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Ancient Rome. Since then, the game has evolved, changed several names and spread to different parts of the world. It is currently a popular pastime all over the US, East Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

In order to play backgammon all you need is a partner, two dice and a special backgammon board with checkers. The backgammon board is divided into two sides with each one is the mirror reflection of the other. Each side contains 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 starting 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 object of backgammon, then, is to move your checkers towards your opponent home board and remove them off the board before your opponent moves his checkers towards your home board. The speed of the progress of each move is determined by the outcome of the dice roll.

The backgammon play begins with both players tossing one die. The player whose outcome is the highest, makes the first move using both his and his opponents number. If the outcome of the dice toss is even, the players toss the dice again until an uneven outcome appears. 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 can move either one checker the number of steps summed up by both die or move two checkers. To make it clearer: if the outcome of the dice roll is 5 and 4, you can 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 can move double the number appears on the dice. For example, if you roll double 2, you can move 2 points four times. In that case, you can 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 can move a checker to a point where there is another one of your checkers or no more than one checker of your opponent, called blot. When you hit a blot, it is moved to the middle 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痴 home boards. For example, if you roll 2, you can 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 can bear off one checker from the 1 point; if you roll 2, you can move a checker form the 2 point, and so on.

If your opponent has not borne off any checkers while you have borne off 15 checkers, you win the gammon. If your opponent has not borne off any checkers and still some of his checkers are placed on the bar, while you have borne off 15 checkers, then you win the backgammon.

Backgammon History

Backgammon has been around for many years, and many different people have been playing the game. Backgammon history is not known by many people, however it is an interesting piece of information to look into. If you are a big player of the game, backgammon history may be a story you want to hear about. Here we go.

Backgammon is the oldest game ever played. It is said to come from the Greek. It is said to be originated in what is known to us today as Kuwait and Iraq. This was between the times of 2900 and 1800 BC. So as I said, it is a very old game.

Back in this time a group of people called the Sumerians lived in this area and they were known for some cultural creations like the wheel and math system. They also were thought to be the inventors of the first written language.

They made their own version of the board used for the game and came up with their own pieces to play with. Scientists found proof of this many, many years later and figured out they were playing backgammon.

Backgammon was found to be played by nobles and the royal party. However now and maybe even then, all cultures and all classes of society play game.

The Egyptians and the Romans played the game, however, they had different names for it. One was the 鉄enet・or the Tabula. They were played with the same intentions, only different names and tables.

In the early societies, the game of backgammon was banned. In Japan, it was illegal. It is interesting to think about today, that a board game was once outlawed in a society.

In the late 60痴, the game of backgammon became very popular. Everyone seemed to take an interest in the game and they were playing in living rooms across the globe.

Now with all the technology of the world, you do not have to rely on a board game and getting out all the pieces. If you have access to the Internet, then you can play backgammon with the click of a mouse. There are many versions of the game offered online and you can play alone in the privacy of your own home or at the office while taking lunch.

With the availability of Internet backgammon, you can practice up without anyone knowing. You can have the advantage over the other players when it comes time to compete with friends or family and some day you may even be ready for a tournament. Tournament play sounds like great fun.

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Backgammon For Beginners

Except in certain circles, the game of backgammon doesn稚 get much attention these days unless the version being played is the online version. But that痴 not the way it was 5,000 years ago when players in Mesopotamia first created this exciting and strategic board game. Few people realize that backgammon existed even before the game of chess was created, making it one of the oldest games still played in modern times.

Little about backgammon has changed since its earliest days. The game itself has survived countless civilizations including the Persians, Greeks, Romans and Egyptians. This is evidenced from the many games that have been discovered by means of archeological excavations. The layout of the board has changed as previously it consisted of 3 rows of 10 squares. For a time it was called Senat. Since then, however, the only other significant change has been the addition of the doubling cube, thought to have been added in the early 1900痴. The doubling cube made the game more interesting and added an element of intrigue.

As with most things in life the Internet breathed new life into the game of backgammon, with virtual game rooms springing to life almost as fast as virtual poker and other virtual games of chance. Today, finding others who share a passion for the game is easy. All players need to do is log on to any of the established backgammon web sites any time of day and they値l find players around the world looking for partners. To draw attention to these sites, operators have started offering cash prizes and other alluring bonus offers and their tactics are working.

If you致e never played a game of backgammon, you really don稚 know what you池e missing. It痴 not hard to learn and once you do, you値l find that the game is somewhat addicting. With each new round, you値l learn something you didn稚 know before, and as you do, your ability to effectively strategize will increase. So next time you池e bored, find someone who knows how to play backgammon!