How to Play Backgammon: Rules & Strategy for Beginners (2026)

Backgammon is one of the oldest games still in heavy rotation — roughly 5,000 years old — and it survives because the loop is so clean: roll two dice, race your pieces home, and shove your opponent backward whenever you get the chance. Luck gets you started, but judgment is what wins. Here's everything a first-timer needs, in the order it actually matters at the board.

Setup: the board, the points, the checkers

A backgammon board has 24 narrow triangles called points, split into four quadrants of six points each. Each player gets 15 checkers of one color. The board is divided into your home board (where you'll eventually bear off) and the outer board, mirrored for each player.

The standard starting position for each player is:

• 2 checkers on your 24-point (the far corner)
• 5 checkers on your 13-point
• 3 checkers on your 8-point
• 5 checkers on your 6-point

Your opponent's setup is the exact mirror image. The two of you move in opposite directions — your checkers travel around the board toward your home board, theirs toward theirs. Get the direction straight in your head early; it's the one thing beginners flip by accident.

Moving your checkers

On your turn you roll two dice, and the two numbers are your movement budget. You can:

• Move one checker the total of both dice (e.g. a 5 then a 2), or
• Move two different checkers, one for each die.

The key word is both — you use each number as its own move, never as a single lump sum. If you move one checker the full distance, it still has to land legally on the intermediate point as well as the final one.

Doubles are the dice gift. Roll two of the same number and you play that number four times instead of two. Double 3s gives you four moves of 3 pips, which you can split across up to four checkers or pile onto fewer.

A checker can land on any point that's open, holds your own checkers, or has just one enemy checker. It cannot land on a point held by two or more enemy checkers — that point is blocked. You're always obligated to use as many of your dice as legally possible; if only one number can be played, you must play it.

Making points, hitting, and the bar

When you put two or more of your own checkers on a point, you've made that point. Your opponent can't land there, so stacking points in a row builds a wall — a prime — that traps enemy checkers behind it. Making points is the backbone of solid play.

A lone checker sitting by itself on a point is a blot, and it's vulnerable. If your opponent's roll lets them land on your blot, they hit it: your checker comes off the board and goes onto the bar (the ridge down the middle).

A checker on the bar is stuck — and so are you. Before you can make any other move, you must re-enter that checker from the bar into your opponent's home board, using one of your dice. If both numbers correspond to points your opponent has made (blocked), you can't enter at all and your whole turn is forfeited. This is why a strong home board is so punishing: a hit can cost the victim several turns dancing on the bar.

Bearing off to win

Once all 15 of your checkers are inside your own home board (the final six points), you can start bearing off — removing them from the board entirely.

You bear off by rolling a number that matches a checker's point: a 6 bears off a checker from your 6-point, a 3 from your 3-point, and so on. If you roll a number higher than your highest occupied point, you bear off from the next-highest point down. If you roll a number with no checker on the matching point and lower points are still occupied, you must make a legal move within your home board instead.

One catch: if you get hit during bear-off, that checker goes to the bar and you must bring it all the way around and back home before bearing off again. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins.

The doubling cube

The doubling cube is a six-sided die marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and it tracks the stake of the game — vital for match and money play. The game starts at a value of 1. When you feel you're ahead, you may, before your roll, offer to double the stakes.

Your opponent then chooses: accept (the cube turns to 2, and they now "own" it — only they can offer the next double) or decline and concede the current stake immediately. A well-timed double pressures a trailing opponent into a tough call, and knowing when to offer or accept is a skill all its own. Beginners can skip the cube for the first few games, then add it once the movement feels natural.

Beginner strategy

• Avoid leaving blots in range. A blot within six pips of an enemy checker is a hit waiting to happen. Pair up or move on.
• Make your 5-point and bar-point early. These central points are the most valuable real estate on the board for building a prime.
• Hit when it helps your race, not just because you can — sending an opponent back is strongest when your own home board is well made.
• Don't over-stack. Six checkers buried on one point are checkers doing nothing; spread out and control more ground.
• Watch the pip count. If you're clearly ahead in the race, stop fighting and run; if you're behind, hold back and play for a hit.

Ready to roll?

Reading rules only gets you so far — backgammon clicks the moment dice are actually in your hand. Play Backgammon right now in your browser, no download, and put every one of these ideas to work against a live opponent. When you want to branch out, the full games library is one click away. See you at the board.