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Text File | 1992-06-02 | 12KB | 264 lines

                             How To Play Backgammon

                               The Rules of Play


Equipment:

     A) Thirty Round Checkers or Men, 15 each in two different colors.

     B) A pair of dice (preferably 2 pair, one for each player, and
        a set of dice cups, when playing against a human opponent).

     C) A doubling cube (used for money games and tournaments), a
        doubling cube is a six (or sometimes more) sided cube with
        the values 2,4,8,16,32,64, etc... printed respectively on
        each side of the cube.

     D) A backgammon board (See the board in PC-Gammon, backgammon
        boards are very commonly found on the reverse side of a
        checker or chess board.

     The backgammon board is normally divided down the center, this area
     is called the "Bar", it separates the "Inner" (or "Home") and
     "Outer" tables of the board, and is where you place men when
     they are "Bumped" (more on being bumped later). Your Home and
     Outer tables are located nearest to you (in PC-Gammon they
     are at the bottom of the screen and your Home table is to your left).
     Your opponents Home and Outer tables are directly opposite to
     your own. Each Home and Outer table is made up of 6 "Points", for
     a total of 24 points, in PC-Gammon the points on the board are
     numbered from 1 to 24, Points 1-6 are your opponents Home Table,
     7-12 are your opponents Outer Table, 13-18 are your Outer Table,
     and 19-24 your Home Table. To the left of the board in PC-Gammon
     there is a "Bear Off" tray, this area holds the men as they are
     removed from the game (more on bearing off later).

     The initial setup for backgammon is as follows (you can see it
     for yourself when you first start PC-Gammon).

     Point          Men
     -----          ------------
       1            2 White Men
       6            5 Black Men
       8            3 Black Men
      12            5 White Men
      13            5 Black Men
      17            3 White Men
      19            5 White Men
      24            2 Black Men


     The object of the game is to move all of your men into your
     Home Table, once they are there, you may begin "Bearing Off",
     the first player to get all his men off the board is declared
     the winner.

     Starting The Game:

     Each player rolls one die, the higher number plays first. If equal
     numbers are rolled, the players must roll again until the dice
     are different. One common variant (an option in PC-Gammon), is
     if the first roll is doubles, then the stakes of the game are
     automatically doubled (the doubling cube is set to 2).

     Moving:

     A player may move his men the number of points as totaled on
     both dice. The total number of points moved may be applied to
     one or more men (i.e. if you roll a 2 and a 3 you may move one
     man 2 points, and another man 3 points or you may move one man
     5 points).

     Doubles: If a player rolls doubles he gets to move twice as many
     points (i.e. if you roll double 2's, you can move any combination
     of men 2 points at a time for up to 4 moves).

     A player must use both numbers of the roll if possible (or for
     doubles all four numbers of the double). If a player can use
     either but not both, he must use the higher valued die for his
     move, in the case of doubles, he must use as many he can.

     "Making Points", a point is made when a player has two or more of
     his men on a point. A primary rule of backgammon is that no two
     players may occupy the same point at the same time. Thus if a
     player has two or more men on a point, his opponent can not land
     there. Thus the rule is:

          A player may move his man to any point that is unoccupied
          or contains only one of his opponents men, or that contains
          one or more of his men, but cannot move to a point that
          contains two or more of his opponents men.

     Blocking: A point that is "Made" (contains two or more of the
     opponents men) acts as a blocking point, by that we mean that
     a player can not use that point when passing by it. For example,
     if you roll a 2 and a 3, your man is on the 1 point, and your
     opponent has 2 men on both the 3 and 4 points, but the 6 point
     is unoccupied. Even though your total roll of 5, would allow
     you to move your man to the unoccupied 6 point, you would have
     to touch down with either the 2 or 3 roll on the 3 and 4
     points which have been "Made" by your opponent.

     In other words, each die value must be moved separately, they
     can not be used to move one man in a single move totaling the
     the value of the dice, and during each die move the man must
     land on an un-blocked point. If you wish to move one man
     for both dice value you may, but they must be used one at a time.

     A man may however be moved the total number of both dice as long
     as one of the dice values will land a man on an un-blocked
     point during the move.

     "Blots": A blot is a point which contains only one man. A player
     may move his man to a point which contains a single opponents
     man (blot). When a player moves his man to his opponents blot
     (either as a single move, or by stopping at a blot as part of
     a longer move (i.e. moving one man with both dice)), the opponents
     man is removed from the board and placed on the bar. This is
     called "Hitting" your opponents blot, or "Bumping".

     "Entering": If a player has one or more men on the bar they
     must be "Entered" (moved) back into the game before the player
     can move any of his other men. A man is "Entered" into the game
     by moving it from the bar to the opponents Inner table (when
     playing PC-Gammon, you will be entering to points 1 through 6).
     The man on the bar must be moved the same number of points
     as shown on the die, and must be able to land on an un-blocked
     point (see blocking above). For example if you have a man on
     the bar, and your opponent has Made his 2,4, and 5 points
     (i.e. they are blocked), you must roll a 1,3, or 6 in order
     to enter from the bar.

     ALL MEN MUST BE ENTERED FROM THE BAR BEFORE ANY OTHER MEN
     MAY BE MOVED. Once all men are entered from the bar, any
     remaining unused die values may be played.

     If you opponent has all 6 of his points made in his inner
     table and you are on the bar, you are "Shut Out" and can
     not move until you opponent moves his men to provide you
     with an un-blocked point in his inner table.

     "Bearing Off"

     Bearing off is the final part of the game. During this
     phase your men are removed from the board. Once you bear
     off a man it cannot return to play.

     As soon as a player has ALL of his men in his inner table he
     may begin bearing off. If your opponent hits a blot in
     your inner table while you are bearing off, you must
     move all men on the bar back into your inner table before you
     can continue to bear off.

     You can think of bearing off as moving your men to an
     "imaginary" 25th point (in the case of PC-Gammon it is
     the "Bear-Off Tray" on the left of the screen).

     You may bear a man off under the following rules:

          1. The value of the die roll is exactly what is
             required to bear the man off to the tray, for
             example if you roll a 5 you would be allowed to
             bear off a man on your 20 point.

          2. If you roll a die value higher than is required
             to move a man from the point which is furthest
             from the tray, you may bear off that furthest
             man. For example if you have men on your
             22, and 23 point and you roll a 6, you may bear
             off the man on your 22 point (you may not bear off
             the man on your 23 point).

          3. You may if you choose to use any roll of the dice
             (except obviously a 6, which would require you
             to bear off a man) to move men within your
             Inner Table without bearing off. For example
             if you roll a 2 you may move a man from your
             19 point to your 21 point without bearing off).

     Doubling:

     Backgammon when played between humans is generally played for
     some agreed upon stake. The doubling cube is used to increase
     the value of the stake during the play of the game. In PC-Gammon
     the doubling cube is of most use during Tournament play.

     When the game first begins the doubling cube is "unowned" and
     either player may offer the first double. A player must offer
     to double before he rolls the dice (this eliminates the chance
     to double on the first roll, which is why it is a common
     practice to automatically double the stakes if the first roll
     is doubles).

     Once a player has offered to double, his opponent may either accept
     the double, in which case the stakes of the game are double and
     the opponent gains control of the doubling cube, and the game
     continues on. If the opponent refuses the double, the game ends
     and the other player wins. Once a double has been accepted the
     player gains control of the doubling cube and then is the only
     one who can offer a double. Ownership of the double cube thus
     goes back and forth between the players after each accepted
     double.

     Gammons and Backgammons:

     If the loser of the game has borne off at least one man then
     he loses the value of the game at that time (i.e. what ever
     value the doubling cube is set at). If the loser has not been
     able to bear off any men at all then he is gammoned and the
     value of the game is doubled (i.e. twice the value of the
     doubling cube). If in addition to not having borne off any men
     the loser has a man on the bar, or in his opponents inner table,
     then the value of the game is tripled (i.e. the doubling cube
     times 3).

     There are no gammons or backgammons if a player refuses a
     double, a single win only is scored.

     In the case of a player offering to forfeit, the player
     accepting the forfeit must decide whether to accept the forfeit
     as a single loss or to require the opponent to forfeit to
     a gammon. If a forfeit is refused play continues. (PC-Gammon
     will not offer to forfeit to a gammon, it will only forfeit
     to a single loss).




     When playing against humans...

     The following conditions can not occur when playing with
     PC-Gammon, but are included here for completeness.


     "Cocked Dice" : The dice must be rolled together, and must
     come to lie flat (not "Cocked" or tilted) on the table to the
     players right. They may not land on top of any men. In either
     of these events both dice must be thrown again.

     Premature Plays: If a throw is made before your opponent finishes
     his play, or if either player touches a die before it has come
     to rest, the adversary or the offender may require a rethrow.

     A player must leave his dice on the board until his play is
     completed. Should he pick them up or turn them over before the
     completion of his play, the opponent may require the player
     to replace his men and rethrow the dice.

     If an error has been made in setup or play, either player may require
     its correction before a subsequent throw of the dice, but not
     afterwards. Any man incorrectly played must be restored to its
     previous position, and a correct play then made.


     Strategy:

          Want to learn more about Backgammon, check out the books
     offered in the order form. Your local library, will most likely
     have books on the subject as well.