How to Play Backgammon
Combine the complexity of a chess game with the randomness of a poker game and you'd have something like backgammon. Its opening set-up is simple, but pick up a dice cup and your backgammon board will instantly unfold an array of possible formations and strategies. But before you become an expert strategist, you are a novice, and that means learning all the ins and outs of how to play backgammon. Welcome to Backgammon 101, courtesy of BackgammonPlus.com.
In this guide to backgammon playing, we look at some of the most important aspects of the game of kings, from the way dice rolls are broken down into checker moves to the role of blots in backgammon strategy (hint: they're important). Also included is basic information on how to set up your checkers at the start of the game and how to bear them off at the end.
Backgammon History
Whether it was called senet, nard, or Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, backgammon has appeared in many forms and civilizations throughout human history. The game as we know it today first took definitive shape in 1743, when Edward Hoyle published a rules and strategy book titled A Short Treatise on the Game of Backgammon. Today, backgammon is played by enthusiasts, professionals, and software programs worldwide. Our history of backgammon article offers a brief chronology of this ever-popular board game.
Backgammon Set Up
Much like chess, backgammon begins with a basic set up that immediately offers a myriad of potential moves and strategies. In fact, the so-called "game tree" of potential moves is far more complicated in backgammon than in chess, because the use of dice adds a layer of complexity to one's choice of moves that is not present in chess. (Just imagine the sort of tantrums World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov would have thrown if he had to roll double sixes AND think strategically.)
Glossary Of Backgammon Terms
To play the game, ya gotta know the lingo. Learning the lexicon of backgammon will not only reveal to you the meaning of some colorful and interesting terms, but it will also make you a better backgammon strategist. In this short glossary of backgammon terms, we provide the definitions of words such as anchor, candlesticks, gammon, and blot. And no, "blot" is not something you do with paper towels when you spill your drink on a backgammon board.
Backgammon Tips
Backgammon is a game of luck in the same way that poker is a game of luck: the action may depend on the dice or the cards, but smart players have a knack for winning, no matter the odds. Our backgammon tips will help you to develop an advanced backgammon strategy that will put your opponent on the defensive - and on the bar (we meant the backgammon bar, but if you're near a mini-bar, a few consecutive gammons could put your opponent on that, too).
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