Play Backgammon Online for Free
Backgammon is a 5,000-year-old race game where two dice decide your options but skill decides your result. You and your opponent each steer 15 checkers around a track of 24 points, running in opposite directions toward your own home board, then bearing them off the edge. Land alone on a point and you leave a blot your rival can hit, banishing you to the bar to start over. Build walls, set traps, and weigh every roll: in backgammon the dice are random, but the good players still win.
How to Play Backgammon
The board has 24 narrow triangles called points and each player owns 15 checkers. White runs from point 24 down to point 1; Black runs from point 1 up to point 24. From the standard opening setup, your aim is to bring all 15 of your checkers into your six-point home board and then bear them off the board before your opponent finishes theirs.
On your turn you roll two dice. You may move one checker by the total of both dice or move two separate checkers, one by each die. You can land on any point that is empty, holds your own checkers, or holds exactly one enemy checker. That lone enemy checker is a blot: landing on it hits it, sending it to the bar in the center. A player with a checker on the bar must re-enter it in the opponent's home board before making any other move, and if neither die yields a legal entry the whole turn is forfeited.
Roll doubles and you play that number four times instead of twice. You must use as many dice as legally possible, and if only one of the two numbers can be played you must play the larger one. Once all 15 of your checkers are home you bear off: a die removes a checker from the matching point, and a die larger than your highest occupied point bears off from that highest point. The first player to bear off all 15 wins, and the engine labels the margin: a normal win, a gammon if the loser bore off nothing, or a backgammon if the loser bore off nothing and still has a checker on the bar or stranded in your home board.
Backgammon Tactics: Points, Primes, and the Race
Make the right points early. The single most valuable point is your 5-point (and your opponent's 5-point, which is your 20-point). Opening rolls are prized for the points they make on move one: 3-1 makes your 5-point, 6-1 makes your bar-point (the 7-point), and 4-2 makes your 4-point, each building a wall in front of your opponent's back checkers. Both the Medium and Hard AI reward made points, and the Hard AI goes further by penalizing over-stacking (four or more checkers piled on a single point), so spreading into made points beats burying five checkers on one stack.
Build a prime to trap. Six made points in a row form a full prime that no checker can jump, since the highest die is a 6. Even a broken prime of three or four consecutive points is powerful: the Hard AI gives a large bonus for three-plus made points in a row. The plan is to hit an enemy blot, send it to the bar, and then close points in front of it so it cannot escape while you race the rest of your army home.
Hold an anchor, and only hit when your board backs it up. Keeping two checkers on your opponent's 5-point or bar-point (an advanced anchor) gives you a safe landing spot and a hitting platform deep in their territory if they leave a blot late. Conversely, only hit when your own home board has several points made: a hit sends the enemy to the bar, but with a weak board they re-enter immediately and your tempo is wasted while you have likely left a blot of your own.
Know when the game is a race. Once the two armies have passed each other and can no longer hit, the contact is over and it becomes a pure pip-count race, which the Hard AI even detects and weights more heavily. Count pips (the total distance all your checkers must travel) and, if you are ahead, run and avoid leaving anything behind. When bearing off, fill in gaps and avoid leaving a blot in your home board if your opponent still holds an anchor there, because a single bad roll can send a near-finished checker all the way back to the bar.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I can't move at all on my turn?
If neither die can be played legally, your turn is forfeited and play passes to your opponent. This happens most often when you have a checker on the bar and both entry points in the opponent's home board are blocked by made points, so you cannot enter with either die.
If I can only play one of my two dice, which one must I use?
You are required to play as many of your dice as possible, and when only one number can legally be played, you must play the larger one. The game generates every legal turn and will only offer you sequences that use the maximum number of dice.
What is the difference between a gammon and a backgammon win?
A gammon is when you bear off all 15 checkers before your opponent bears off even one. A backgammon is the most decisive result of all: the loser has borne off nothing and still has a checker on the bar or stuck in your home board. This version awards no extra points or doubling stakes for them, but it detects and labels all three outcomes (single, gammon, backgammon).
Can I bear off a checker with a die bigger than any point I occupy?
Yes. If you roll a number higher than your highest occupied home point, you may bear off a checker from that highest point. But if a higher point is still occupied, a smaller die must be played within the board rather than wasted; you cannot skip over a checker that the die could still move.
Is there a doubling cube in this version?
No. This implementation focuses on the core race and contact game, so there is no doubling cube to raise the stakes. Outcomes are still labeled by margin as single, gammon, or backgammon, which captures how decisively you finished.