The Goal of Backgammon

Simply stated, the object of backgammon is to first move all of one’s fifteen checkers to one’s home board and then to bear them off. To bear off a checker involves rolling a number equal to the point on which the checker is situated. The first player to bear off all his checkers wins the game. However the process is not as simple as it sounds. If even one checker is not on the home board the player cannot start the bear off process. Hence if a checker is hit when on the home board, that checker must undertake the long journey back to the home board. And meanwhile the other checkers simply wait. In addition to trying to bear off one’s checkers a player must prevent his opponent from trying to bear off his checkers. This can be done by blocking his path or by hitting his checkers.

There is another object to the game and that is to win by the maximum possible points. Backgammon games are not played in isolation but in a set of a number of games. The scores at the end are totalled to decide the winner. In normal games the winner gets one point; in doubled games the winner gets two points and in redoubled games the winner gets four points. This doubling can theoretically go on infinitely. Hence winning one redoubled game is equivalent to winning four normal games. So the broader object of backgammon is to have the higher score at the end of the session.

The good backgammon player must know how to double judiciously. It is considered tragic if a player initiates a double and then loses the game. A player can double only when it is his turn and he must double before he rolls the dice. Therefore the player must be able to assess the position and decide if it is to his advantage to double.

Equally important is being able to accept or refuse a double correctly. If a person refuses a double he concedes the game at the existing level. Hence if a person refuses the first double he loses the game with one point. If he refuses a redouble he concedes the game at two points. However if he accepts the first double and then loses, he will concede two points to his opponent and so on. Hence it can be judicious to refuse the double and concede the game.

Doubling is not the only way to raise the stakes. Gammons and backgammons have also to be kept in mind. If a player bears off all his checkers before his opponent has even been able to bear off one the player has gammoned and he wins with double the existing stake. And if a player bears off all his checkers before his opponent has even been able to get a single checker on the home board then he has backgammoned and he wins with triple the existing stake. A player’s object must be to ensure that he does not concede a gammon or backgammon.

A lot is happening on the backgammon board and the player needs to maintain his focus.

David Carnegy - Managing Editor