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- <TITLE>Backgammon Tutorial</TITLE>
- <FONT Face="arial">
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- <CENTER><H1>Backgammon Tutorial</H1></CENTER>
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- <p>Backgammon is a game of war played between two armies of 15 men, moving around a board divided into 24 points.</p>
- <center><h3>The Board</h3>
- <Board width=200 height=120>
- <p>The backgammon board is divided into 4 "tables" of 6 triangular points each, separated in the centre by the bar.
- Players face each other across the board. The side nearest you contains your outer and home tables,
- Players start with their chequers opposing each other, and each must move all of their chequers around the board
- and then bear off the board once they reach the end.
-
- <p>Players move their pieces in opposite directions, and must cross over each other's pieces as they travel around the board.
-
- <p>The first player to bear off all their pieces is the winner.
- <HR>
- <CENTER><H3>How to Play</H3></CENTER>
- <p>
- At the start of the game, each player throws one die. The player with the highest number moves first,
- using the numbers shown on both dice. From then on players move alternately, each throwing both dice.
- You can move your chequers the distance shown by the dice. So if you throw a 4 and a 6, you can move one
- chequer 4 places and another chequer six places. You can use either die first, and can move one chequer
- twice if you prefer.
- <hr>
- <center><h3>The Starting Position</h3>
- <Board width=200 height=120 Points="00W2,05B5,07B3,11W5,12B5,16W3,18W5,23B2" cube="0?"></center>
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- <p>Each player starts with 15 chequers on 4 points. Red moves anti-clickwise from the
- top right to bottom right corner, whilst white moves in the opposite direction.
- <p>Each player throws two dice to decide his move.
- If both dice show the same value e.g. 5 and a 5, you have rolled a double and have four moves of 5.
- <BR>
- You cannot land on a point if your opponent has two or more chequers there,
- but you can land on a single chequer, known as a 'blot'.
- <HR>
- <H3><CENTER>Capturing your Opponent</CENTER></H3>
- If you land on a point containing a single chequer belonging to your opponent,
- this is deemed a 'hit' and the opponent's chequer is removed from the point and
- placed on the bar, in the centre of the board. Your opponent must play from the
- bar next move, before he can move any other chequers. chequers that are played from the bar must restart from your
- opponent's inner table.
- <HR>
- <CENTER><H3>Bearing Off</H3></CENTER>
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- Once you have moved all your chequers into your inner table (i.e. your last 6 points),
- you can begin to move them off the board, known as bearing off. To bear a chequer off
- you must throw exactly the number required to move it one position off the board, or
- if the die value is higher than the distance required to bear off your highest chequer,
- you can use it bear off that chequer.
- <BR>
- The winner is the first player to bear off all his pieces.
- <HR>
- <CENTER><H3>Winning with a Gammon</H3></CENTER>
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- If your opponent has yet to bear off a single piece, you win with a gammon, scoring 2 points.
- <HR>
- <CENTER><H3>Winning with a Backgammon</H3></CENTER>
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- If your opponent still has pieces remaining in his home table (i.e. his first six points on the board)
- or on the bar, and has yet to bear off, you win with a backgammon, scoring 3 points.
- </center><hr>
- <a href=index.htm>Index</a> <a href=openings.htm>Opening Moves</a><hr>
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