Narde Backgammon Variant

Narde is a Russian Backgammon variant, which is often played in the Ukraine as well as its native country.

In Narde, every participant begins with 15 checkers on the point that is farthest to the right. The players both make the same counterclockwise course across the board. As with all Backgammon variants, the goal in this game is to get every one of your checkers to move all the way around the Backgammon board and bear the checkers off. The sides bears off from opposite corners - one from the top left and the other from the bottom right.

To begin play, every player rolls a single die and the player with the bigger number gets to play first, then he re-rolls to start his initial turn. The player that wins the game will go first in the next game.

Players need to move their checkers in accordance with the points that correspond to the numbers that come up when they roll the dice. These are the rules of checker movement in Narde:

1. A checker can only be placed on a point that isn't held by any of the opponent's checkers.
2. There are 2 dice in Narde and the numbers on each of them signify 2 independent moves.
3. Doubles are used 2 times.
4. You have to play all of your roll whenever you can, meaning 2 numbers on a regular roll and 4 numbers on a doubles roll. If you are unable to make use of both of the numbers, play the higher number.

Each participant's point of departure is dubbed the head. No more than 1 checker can be moved off the head in a single turn. However, there is an exception - 2 checkers can be moved off the head in the game's first roll.

In Narde, a single checker is enough to command a point, thus, there is no hitting in this Backgammon variant.

Furthermore, a Narde player is prohibited from constructing primes (6 points in a row) that block the other player's checkers. 1 or more of your opponent's checkers should be before your prime.

Regarding the bear off, you can only start to bear off when every one of your 15 checkers has landed in the finishing table. In order to bear off you need to roll a number that matches the point that checker stands on and then take that checker off the Backgammon board.

In the case that the point marked by the roll is clear, you have to make a move with a checker on a point with a higher number. If your higher-numbered points are clear as well, you need to take your checker off of the highest point that a checker resides.

Furthermore, if you bear off every one of your checkers before your opponent, you win the Narde Backgammon game and earn 1 point. If you manage to do so before your opponent has been able to bear off any of his checkers, then you gain 2 points.

David Carnegy - Managing Editor