Backgammon online against the computer
International backgammon — short nardy, tavla, shesh besh, table: one game under many names. Fifteen checkers each, spread across the board and racing in opposite directions; a lone checker can be hit, and every roll asks the same question — play safe or run?
Rules of backgammon
Your checkers travel counter-clockwise to your home, bottom right; your opponent's come the other way, clockwise, to their home top right. Each side starts spread along its own way: 2, 5, 3 and 5 checkers.
- Each player has fifteen checkers: two on the 24-point, five on the 13-point, three on the 8-point and five on the 6-point. The two sides move in opposite directions, each towards its own home in the last six points.
- Throw two dice: each number is a separate move, and one checker may take both if the point in between is open. A double is played four times.
- You may land on an empty point, on your own checkers or on a single opposing checker, a blot. Landing on a blot hits it: it goes to the bar in the middle. Two or more checkers hold a point.
- A checker on the bar must come back in, in the opponent’s home, before anything else moves. If every point it could enter is closed, the turn is lost.
- A possible move must be played, using both numbers if you can; if only one of them fits, play the larger.
- With all fifteen home, bear off: a number takes a checker off its point, and a higher number takes one from the highest point when nothing stands above it.
- The first to bear off all fifteen wins one point. A gammon (mars), when the loser has borne off nothing, is worth two; a backgammon (koks), when the loser also still has a checker on the bar or in the winner’s home, is worth three.
Questions about backgammon
Is backgammon the same as short nardy, tavla and shesh besh?
Yes, those are names for one game. House rules differ a little — in Turkish tavla, for example, the winner of the first throw rolls again and there is no triple win — but the board, the checkers and the way they move are the same.
What is the home in backgammon?
The last six points of a side's way round: its home board. Yours is the bottom-right quarter here, your opponent's the top-right one. You may bear off only once all fifteen are home, and a checker hit meanwhile has to come all the way home again first. On this board your home is marked through your first game and lights up while you bear off.
What is the doubling cube?
A die marked 2, 4, 8 and up that raises the stake of a game while it is being played. It belongs to match play; here every game is a single game against the computer, so the cube stays off for now.
Can I take a move back?
Yes, until you press Done: Undo takes back one checker at a time, the last one first. When every number is played, the turn waits for Done — or a tap on the dice.
Backgammon and long nardy online