Backgammon Rules: Setup, Hits, Bearing Off and the Doubling Cube
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Backgammon at a glance
- Players
- 2
- Complexity
- Light
- Mode
- Competitive
Backgammon is a race for 2 players, and each of you has 15 checkers. You roll 2 dice, move toward your own home board, and the first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins.
These are the standard rules published by the United States Backgammon Federation. A turn is a roll and then a move, plus an optional double before the roll, which keeps the complexity Light. The same play is written up at Backgammon Galore. Optional stake rules sit in their own section, after the race itself.
What is on the board?
The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, alternating in color and grouped into 4 quadrants of 6 points each. Your home board and your outer board are on your side, your opponent has the same two quadrants on the other side, and a bar runs down the middle.
Number the points for yourself, starting in your home board. Your 1-point is the point you bear off from, and your 24-point is the farthest point, which is also your opponent's 1-point. You move only forward, toward lower numbers, and your opponent moves the other way.
Each player needs 15 checkers of one color, so the box holds 30, plus 2 dice or a pair each, a dice cup, and a doubling cube marked 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64. The cube tracks the stake. It is not a third movement die.
How do you set up?
Put the 15 checkers down like this. The count is the whole setup.
| Point (your numbering) | Your checkers | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 24-point | 2 | Your opponent's 1-point |
| 13-point | 5 | Your midpoint |
| 8-point | 3 | Your outer board |
| 6-point | 5 | Your home board |
2 + 5 + 3 + 5 = 15. Your opponent mirrors that on their own numbering, so their 2 checkers sit on your 1-point. Both of you can bear off on the right, or both on the left if the board is flipped, and the race is the same either way.
The cube starts in the middle with 64 face up. Most cubes have no face for 1, so 64 means the stake is still 1, and either player may offer the first double.
How a turn works
To start, each player rolls 1 die. The higher roll moves first. It must play both numbers. If the two dice match, both players roll again. A die has 6 faces, so 6 of the 36 opening pairs are ties, which is 1 in 6, and the other 30 pairs name a first player.
After that, you take turns rolling both of your dice.
- You may offer a double before you roll, and once the dice are down the double waits.
- Roll both dice together so they land flat in the right-hand half of the board.
- Move checkers forward by the numbers shown, treating each die as its own move.
- Pick up your dice, which closes the turn.
A roll of 5 and 3 can move one checker 5 and another 3, or one checker 8 if the point 5 away or the point 3 away is also open. You may play the numbers in either order.
Doubles are played twice, so a roll of 6 and 6 is 4 sixes rather than 2. You can split them across several checkers or spend all 4 on one checker if every landing point is open.
You must use both numbers if any legal way exists, or all 4 numbers of a double. If either number can be played but not both, play the larger one. If only one of the two numbers has a legal landing, play that number. Play it even when it is the smaller one. If neither fits, you lose the turn. On a double, play as many of the 4 numbers as you can.
Two or more opposing checkers close a point. You cannot land there. A point with 1 opposing checker is a blot, and landing on it is a hit. Stack them as high as you like. There is no cap at 5.
Dice that do not count
Roll both dice again if either one leaves the right-hand board, lands on a checker, or fails to lie flat. On the opening roll, only the player whose single die mislands rolls that die again.
Picking up your dice ends the turn. If the move was short or illegal, your opponent may accept it or ask for a legal move. Once they roll or offer a double, the previous play stands. If you roll before they have picked up their dice, your roll does not count.
Hitting and coming back in
A single checker is a blot, and if you land on it, it goes to the bar.
Any checker on the bar has to come in before you move anything else. You enter on your opponent's home board, on the point that matches a die. A roll of 4 and 6 lets you try their 4-point or their 6-point, so long as fewer than 2 of their checkers sit there. If both points are closed, you lose the turn and stay on the bar.
If you have 2 checkers on the bar and only one entry point is open, you enter one and give up the rest of the roll. After the last bar checker is in, you must still play any unused number.
Hit-and-run is legal in the standard game: you may hit a blot and then move that same checker on with the other die. Some games played in the Middle East block that play inside the home board.
Bearing off
You may bear off only when all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, points 1 through 6. A die that matches a point takes a checker off that point. A 6 clears the 6-point.
If that point is empty, you must move a checker on a higher point instead, when that move is legal. If no checker sits on a higher point, you bear off from the highest point that still has one of yours. You do not have to bear off. A plain move inside the home board is allowed.
In this example the home board holds 2 on the 6-point, 3 on the 5, 4 on the 4, 3 on the 3, 2 on the 2, and 1 on the 1, which is 2 + 3 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 = 15. A roll of 6 and 4 bears off one checker from the 6 and one from the 4, and 13 checkers remain.
If you are hit while bearing off, that checker goes to the bar. You enter it and bring it all the way home before you bear off again.
The first player to take off all 15 checkers wins.
How the stake works
A game starts at 1 point unless you have agreed something else. Before you roll, you may double. Your opponent can refuse and pay the current stake, which is 1 point on the first double, or accept, turning the cube to 2 and moving it to their side. Only the cube's owner may double next.
A later double is a redouble. Refuse it and you pay the stake already showing, not the new one. Accept it and the stake doubles again, the cube changes hands, and there is no cap on redoubles.
Gammon and backgammon
If the loser has borne off at least 1 checker, they lose the cube value once, so no doubles yet means a loss of 1.
If the loser has borne off nothing, it is a gammon and they lose twice the cube, so a cube showing 4 means a gammon of 8.
If they have also left a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, it is a backgammon and they lose 3 times the cube. A cube showing 4 means a backgammon of 12, and a cube showing 2 means a gammon of 4 and a backgammon of 6.
| Result | Multiplier | Cube on 2 | Cube on 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary win | 1× | 2 | 4 |
| Gammon | 2× | 4 | 8 |
| Backgammon | 3× | 6 | 12 |
Optional rules
The federation page lists three optional rules that many tables add. Agree before the first roll.
Automatic doubles: if the opening dice match, the stake doubles, the cube goes to 2, and it stays in the middle. Tables usually allow this once per game.
Beavers: a player who is doubled may redouble at once and keep the cube. The original doubler then accepts or drops, as with any other double.
The Jacoby rule: gammons and backgammons pay only the single stake unless a double has been offered and accepted. Once the cube has been turned, the 2× and 3× multipliers apply as usual.
Common Rules Questions
Can you pass when it is your turn?
No. If a legal move exists, you play it, and on a double that gives you 4 numbers you play as many as fit. Three legal sixes out of four means you play those three sixes and leave the fourth. You do not skip a number you are able to use.
What if only one of the two numbers can be played?
If either number can be played but not both, play the higher one. On a roll of 6 and 4, a checker that could step 6 or hit with the 4 plays the 6. If only the 4 has a legal landing, play the 4. When a legal way uses both numbers, you must play both.
Is hit-and-run allowed?
Yes, after you hit a blot that same checker may move again with the other die. A roll of 5 and 2 can hit on the 5-point and then step the hitter to the 3-point. The standard rules have no ban on that play inside your home board.
Can more than 5 checkers sit on one point?
Yes, stack them if the point runs out of room. A point is closed to your opponent as soon as 2 of your checkers occupy it, and a sixth checker does not change that. Older English variants cap a point at 5. The standard game does not.
Do you have to bear off when the number matches?
No. You may play either number first, and you may move inside the home board instead of taking a checker off. With 4 and 1, playing the 1 first can move a checker from the 4-point to the 3-point, so the 4 then bears that checker off. Playing the 4 first would take a different checker off the 4-point and leave a blot.
If you like backgammon, try these
Cribbage is the other 2-player race on a small board, scored with pegs instead of checkers. Ticket to Ride also plays at 2, and the race is across a map of routes rather than around 24 points. Carcassonne seats 2 to 5 and builds one shared map of tiles. 7 Wonders Duel is a 2-player card game with 3 ways to win and no dice. More guides are in our board games section.
Sources
- U.S. Backgammon Federation, Backgammon Basics: How to Play (setup, movement, hits, bearing off, cube, gammon)
- Backgammon Galore, Rules of Backgammon and Basic Rules FAQ (the same play, plus the common questions above)
- Optional rules (automatic doubles, beavers, Jacoby) as listed on those pages
How we check rules and build the intro card: our methodology.