The goal
Bring all 15 of your checkers into your home board, then bear them off. The first player to bear off all 15 wins. There are no draws in backgammon.
The board and checkers
The board has 24 points and a bar in the middle. Counting from your side, the points run from 1 to 24: your checkers move from 24 down to 1, and your opponent's move the other way. Your home board is points 1 to 6; your opponent's home board is your points 19 to 24.
Each player has 15 checkers. On Selminha.com, one side plays with brass caps and the other with tires.
Starting position
Your 15 checkers start like this, counting from your side:
- 24-point
- 2 checkers
- 13-point
- 5 checkers
- 8-point
- 3 checkers
- 6-point
- 5 checkers
Your opponent has the same setup, mirrored: 2 checkers on your 1-point, 5 on your 12, 3 on your 17 and 5 on your 19.
Who goes first
Each player rolls one die. The higher roll goes first and uses both numbers as the opening move. If the dice match, both players roll again. From then on, each player rolls two dice on their turn.
Moving your checkers
- Each die is one move: a checker moves forward the number of points shown on the die.
- You can use both dice on the same checker, one after the other, or on two different checkers. If you use both on one checker, the point where it stops in between must also be open.
- Doubles count twice: you play the number four times.
- A checker can only land on an empty point, a point with your own checkers, or a point with a single enemy checker.
- You must use both dice whenever you can. If only one of them can be played, you must play the higher number whenever it can be used. With doubles, you play as many moves as possible.
- If no move is possible, your turn passes automatically.
Blocked points and hitting
- Blocked point
- Two or more checkers of the same player on a point. The opponent cannot land there.
- Blot
- A single checker alone on a point is exposed. If an enemy checker lands there, the blot is hit.
- Hit checker
- It goes to the bar in the middle of the board and has to start its journey over.
The bar
If you have a checker on the bar, you must enter it before moving anything else. It enters through your opponent's home board: a 1 enters on your 24-point, a 6 on your 19-point, and it can only enter on an open point.
If every entry point your dice allow is blocked, you cannot move and your turn passes. With two or more checkers on the bar, all of them must enter before any other move.
Bearing off
Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you can start bearing them off with your dice:
- A die bears off a checker from the point with the same number: a 4 bears off a checker from the 4-point.
- If that point is empty but you have checkers on higher points, the die can only be used to move a checker inside your home board.
- If the die is higher than the point your farthest checker is on, it bears off that checker.
- If one of your checkers is hit while you are bearing off, it has to enter from the bar and make it back home before you can bear off again.
Winning
The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins. On Selminha.com, each game is simply a win or a loss, with no points, and there is no doubling cube. In a game with someone, you also win if your opponent resigns, or if they go more than two days without moving on their turn and you end the game by forfeit.
Options on Selminha.com
- Against the computer
- Four opponents, from weakest to strongest: the Tamer (very easy), the Driver (easy), the Warden (medium) and the Executive (hard).
- With someone by link
- Tap PLAY WITH SOMEONE and send the link. The game is saved on the site, and each of you plays your turn whenever you can.
- Same dice on both devices
- Each turn's dice are rolled by the room: both players see the same numbers, and nobody can reroll.
- During a game with someone
- You can resign and, if your opponent goes more than two days without moving on their turn, end the game and claim the win by forfeit. A room with no moves for 7 days expires with no winner.
- Watching and rematch
- Anyone who opens the link to a full room can watch. At the end, if both players agree, a new game starts in the same room.
Tips for beginners
- Avoid leaving blots within reach of your opponent's checkers: the closer they are, the more likely they are to be hit.
- Making points in your home board pays off: when you hit a checker, your opponent has a harder time bringing it back in.
- Several blocked points in a row form a prime, a wall that is hard to get past.
- Keep an eye on the pip count in the panel: the player ahead in the race usually avoids contact, and the player behind usually looks for blots to hit.
Variations
At many tables, backgammon is played with a doubling cube, and a game is worth more points when the loser has not borne off a single checker (a gammon). The game on Selminha.com uses none of that: it is one game at a time, and the first to bear off all 15 checkers wins.