Nackgammon Backgammon Variant

Nackgammon is a challenging Backgammon variant that was created by Nack Ballard.

How does Nackgammon differ from Backgammon?

• Every player begins with 2 extra back checkers.
• You begin play with 2 men on your opponent's points 1 and 2, 4 checkers on your opponent's point 12, 3 checkers on point 8, and 4 checkers on point 6.

There is just a slight difference in the setup of the board that makes this Backgammon variant a little more challenging - a single checker from your point 6 and mid-point (point 13) are shifted to the other player's point 2. Hence, the game begins with each participant having 4 back checkers instead of 2, like in a regular Backgammon game.

The Jacoby Rule applies to Nackgammon, which is also played with a doubling cube. Hence, the only time gammons and backgammons are tallied is when the doubling cube has gotten flipped.

Nackgammon is a game that demands skill, even more so than traditional Backgammon because in this Backgammon variant, games have an inclination to be more drawn out due to the difficulty of running back checkers. Thus, Nackgammon tends to highlight back games and priming.

David Carnegy - Managing Editor