BackElailnon

PLAYING RULES
PLAYING BOARD The two playerssit opporite eachother (Black and White in the diaqram). Facing each player are l2 lriangles called "pointt', divided into two sroups of six poinc by the "bar". The sir points on one side ol the bar (the sameside for both playrs) form a plaver's " i n n e rt a b l " ; t h es i x p o i n t s on theotherside ot rhe bar form his "outer table'. The points are numbered1 to 12 runnins from the inner to the o;ter tables. Note: these names and numdo not not aDDear on the actoalboard, PREPARATION A player's 15 counteE (called"nones") are set up on the board exactly as appearsin the diagraln.(The alternate,colouls ofthe points are decorativeand in no way are relatedto the colours

OBJECT Each player mun movehir stonesfrom the initial positionsinto the six points which form his inner rable (5 stone. are atreadv there on a player's6 pointl where rhev are then removedfrom the board. The fir5t plsyr to a.$ieverhG wins the game.Stons are moved from point to point rround the board according to dice throwi. Whit6 rDowr in the dhecti{rn indicared bv rhe arrows in the di.gr.m; Bl.ck movs in ths oppositedirection. Stonei, it lhey cn movr, murt alwayr mow in the required direction (no backtrackingl snd m.y only croic lrom on side ol the bo.rd to tha other 3ido vi. the 12 ooints. To begin.6adr player throv/s on6 dis. Th. highGrnumberptav! fict. u3ing the two numbeG rolled lor his ti6t rurn On subsequen!turns achplavrwill rhrow rrlD dice.

K'VES '1. A play6r may n|ow trlo rtona(onefor aad countl or one stonsrh.um of borh coun8, Exampli wirh a roll ot &3 a player mry mow one gtone6 pointssnd ano$lr by 3 points, or he couldmow oneatone bv I roints. 2. Stonesmay b3 movedio any point excepta point whidr is o.cupiad by two or morEopposingston6. Sudr a point is called "made".Thareis no limir to the number ot stonea on anvooint3. It a 5toneis beingmovd morethenonecouflt,oach count (in anyorder)andno singl mustb takenreparately countmay player. endofl a point "made"by the opposing E TERIiIG 1. Whena rnovebncli on a single oprrosing stonelcslleda blod $e blot h removed and placrdon the bar.Stons on th bsr mun bs "enr.red" beforeaplayercanmakeanyothermoves. 2- Stones r'3 enbrd in the opposing innertableon points of t}|. $E|. nuhb.rs as show on th dic.. Examole:with a roll of 1L3. a stonecouldbe enterd on lhe oppo3ibg 4 poin! orthe 3 ooint (or both it two ston$ arinvolvd.) 3 Stona may not enreron point madby rhe opposing pbyer. lf .ll iix entry pointsareso m.de, entry k impossible and. pl.yer foneitshis turn until plays by hisopponent opens BEARING OFF 1. A playermaybearofi only whenevery oneof hisstones on the board is within his innertabl.(i.e.not in any othrtable or on the barl.Oncboh ofl a stone maynever returnto play. 2. To bearoff, a plaverremovr nones{onefor achcount) frompoints Example: of thesame numbrs asshow on thedic. with a roll of 5.3, onestonemay be removed from the 5 poinr from the 3 point. andanothr

BLACK

-t

>T ha

| 2 3156

z o o d 5

!:

7 8 et0n+

E3 uz

WHITE WHITE 3. The rollol a numberhigherthanthe highett occupiedpoint may be usdto bear oft stonesfiom the highostpoint vvhichis oc.uoied. Example: with . roll oI S3, a playef could remove that his 6 point is one stone from his 3 point bur assuming vacant he could then removea stone from his 5 point or which_ everis the highen ocupiedpoint.t thattime. DOUALETS is usedtwice and wben a olaver throw! a double each nLrmber four plays are made insteadof tt/vo.Example:with t rollof44 a player could move fou. stoner 4 rloints eadr, or one stone I points and two 4 point eadr, or two stonesI points each,or one stone 16 points. Doubletsako apply to ente.ingand bearing off. Example: on a roll ot 33 a player could bear off four stonesfrom his 3 point. or two stonesfrom his 6 point, or one stonefrom his six pointand lwo from his thre point, and so on.

MISCELLANEOUS 1. Whenpo.ribl,. phyer may combine moving with baring off and entering with moving, sub,ct to all rutsconceming 2. A playermust slwaysusetoth numb66of his roll (of atl tour numb6of a doublet)it only one numbr c.n b ptayed, andthere h a choics, the highernumbrlor ar manvnumbers of a doublet ascanb usedlmusrb played. DOUALING Backgammon is usu.lly playedtor an sgred bsre vatueof L Thir value mayb increased duringplayby doubting. AutomaticDoubls: Whenequalnumbers arerotledat the time players throw to determine $ho shallplay fi6t, an automaric doubleto 2 occurs. The utual agremenr is to allowonly one such doubleperg.mebut this is up to players. VolunlaryDoubles: This is a drall.ngeby one playerthat rhe qamebe doubld. The otherplayermustaccept rhis doubte or forfGitthe gamsat its frs6ntvalue. A pl6yer mayontydouble on histum belorehe throwsthe dic.. Eitlierplayermaymake tne fiEr volunt ry doublebut therlaftera play.may doubte only if his opponent madothe previoris double. {lt is suggend lhat pl6y6.tllmit ludr doublingto a msximumof 64 in 6ny gmo whlchIstho highsnnumber on the doubling cube. WINNIIIG THE GAME Ths lirn playerto b6sroff hb his 15 noneswinr the game. Thar6c.n b no dr.w in 8.clgsnmon,. lf th. toser ha! borne off at laest ono $on tha winne. ,cors 6 singlq6me. tf the loc.r h6 not borfls off arry none. ih6 lvinnr scoresa double !trme or a GAMMON. lf lhe locsr hrs not borne ofi . single rloneandrlro hasone or mor6ston6 in the winner's innriable or on the bar, the winner scores a tripl gameo. a BACK. GAMMON. Gammons anclBackgammoN doubleor tripte the final valueof lhe gam. Thu! a gEme doubled to 64 couldend wjth oneplayerscoring 192if a Eackgamdon result!.

__--

STRATEGY
THE AOARD ol rhe Fnintsk helpful when moving colouring The alternate end on a point numberwill alwavs of an even a move since will .lwavsend number of an odd a move colour; of the same pointofthe colour. opposite on a The number7 poin! of eadr plaveris calledhis "bar poim". They are probablythe mo6timponantpoin$ on the boatdan The number 12 points are ofton called a nrategic sense. Thetwo.tons "comton rtationy' andthv loo areimportant. point atecalled your I ptay number opponent's on which begin i. kev to .afsty tfie .tones to two "runners'. Gettingthe.e games. most winning

MAKING POINTS towar* makingpoinlswhich Your effort shouldbe dircted lt must will impedethe .dvancot vour opponent'.stones. be kept in mind that a singlemadpoint h not much of a on making a s.ries of adiacentpoants barrier. Concentrate This is alwaysasiento @ompli$ in Your whereposs;ble. pointsto makeis the bar own outer table and the preferable point .nd thos adjscnt to ir. With this accompli$edvou ar in a srrong position to block the p5ss4e of anv non6 your opponnimaYhaveto eflterlrom the bar whiiebeingin a qood position to move nons inlo vour inner lable prior to pointsall made bv or pl.ver is known A groupof six adiacnt never cross sucha barrier "prime". mav none. a Opposing .s

Doublingshould be bsed on deflnrtEadvsnt.gps you hav gained. Srraregic advantags .Lrdras you havemadeyour bar point bul your opponenthas no!. you ar lvelt aheadin a forward game,your runnersare s.te while your opponenrt are not, you are sheadin bearing otf, andso on. Tactical ad, v6ntager sudr as, your opponenth6slaid leveratbtos whidl you can ea.ily hit, there is an opposing nons on the bar.vou makea highroll ruchas&6 in a dosegame, etc.

While it ir difficuk to calculate theseodds,a doublerhoutd be accepted if you haveone chancein lour {or botterl of waning; otherwis dcline.This ir bcaus if in four caiesof doubling,you acceptand win once,you witl win 2 ard tos 6 for a net losr of 4. You would los exadty thc sameif vou haddeclined all four doubles.

THE FORWARDGAME play is essntially Backgammon a race.The forwfid gameb an effon ro lose as littl rime as po6sible in rhe race,white imposing progrels. delays in your opFronentt The basic renet ol the torward grrneare: 1. 2. 3. 4. quickty. Getyour runners to safety point3 Make asnuny your baraspossibte. around It you 6rewell ahead, avoidhittingopposing btoc. Beginto beroff assoonaspossibto.

GAME THE BACKWARD tor $ name,this stYleof plav it nol re@mmendd Despite of style skill. The backward backwardplayers.lt requnes expect_ play grantsa long lad to vour opponsntwith the are: it and more later.The basicprinciples ation ol regaining in vour oPponent's as manv pointsas possible 1. l\.,lake ihe then entering inner t.ble bybtottingcontinuouslY hits your opponentmakes.Also kp Your runners backro helpout. 2. Oncayou havebuilt up as m.nv pointsas possibl in your opponentt inner table, hit one o{ his blots up on his (mon of his stones will bv now b jammed bar pointt then try to trap thk stoneby advanc'ng home. your primeor partialprimetowards

PROBABILITY that The connant use ot dics in E.ctg6mmon would suggst But is true degre this To some ft is only a gameof chance. of a in favour lvork can b madeto the luck of Ba.*gammon probabilitv regtrd'ng rhe b.6ics of player who understands Whena player rolk two dice, eadr die can turn up one of .ix fac?sto givea total combinationof 36 results:

Drovidedthe Drime can be "walked" inact towards your own inner table. The ideal way to walk a prime k to lay a blot with one of the thre extra stones on the point just aheadof rhe prine then cover this blot from th rear of the prime on a roll ot 6. It rhis processcan be repeatedany singl oppot ing stone in the path of lh prime is doomed although rwo or more opposingston6 may b able to mako a Point in the path of$e prime which thn breaksup on c.ossingthispoint.

BLOTTING the Much of the skill in Back$mmon lies in undrstanding subrleriesof blotting. This ir important becausit will not b possibleto avoid blotting and in some.ses it can be usefulto do so. To blor or notto blot? There are the quenions. 1. What is to be gained by blotting? Essenlially,blots will give you more options in moving stones.They .re panicolarly invaluabls Ior laying the qroundwork to make points around your bar point early in the g.me. Theseblots should be made '12 by bringingdown your stonesfrom the opposing point into your ourer table points. There is a risk that these blots may be hit by your opponent's advancingrunnrs but getting hit .nd the risk is wo(h early in the game is of linle consequence taking in the effort to build poinc around your bar. 2. How open is your opponenrt side of th board. The more poinrs your opponent has made around hk bar point and in his inner table the more cautious you must be in blotting. lf one ol your bloG is hit in this rituation ydu will haveconsiderable

thesepoints difficulty in enteringfrom the bar and in crossing

3. What risks must Your opponent take in hitring a blot? Sohetimes it is unwise to hit a blot. This is true for a plaver who har a long le.d in play for it is in his inlerest to avoid having hit stones enterinq imo hls inner rable and prhaps interfere wiih his bearins off- There is somethingto be said for deliberatelyblotting if your oPponentdoes havea big lead in the hope that he will hit the blot. Then vou can enter into his inner table and perhapsturn the game around bY hitting one of hh blots whh this stone. 4. what are the odds of a blot being hit? The exact oddt can be c.lculated {see PROBAEILITY) but to memo.ize ths is or more points lessimportant than being.ware that a blot seven from on enemy rton it taler than a blot withan svenporms, lf within sevnpoinG, th closrthe blot isto the enemv stone

DOUBLING The u.e of the doublingcube is an art in itill lf vou tend to declinedoublesyour oppornt might offr you doubles unril you find Vour.elfgiv' from vlreaker and wakerpositions inq away gamesyou should have woa. Converselv,:iYou mav doublefrom acceptdoublestoo readilyVour opponent g.ms greater and gre.ter nrengthard you will end up losing degree of bluff_ \lvhile some lhan nec65ary. a higher value at that vour in doublingir must b rernembrd ing is apparent opponentcan seeyour tact positionand such tacticswill opponent. notsuuallv work with a skilled

2-1 22
1-4 t-5

?4

3-3 34

4-1 42 4-3 4,5 4-6

5-l 3-2 5-3 5--4 5-6

6-l 6-2 6-3 6-4 6-6

|,

To become a good backgammon ptayeryou must onderstand ihs implications ot thsie combinatibmfor you wil then be able to compute the oddsofthrowinganygivenumberls). EXAMPLES: You can quickly ree that you havetwice as manych.nc6 ot rolling 5-3 as 5-5. This is tecaus $-5 .ppoa6 onry once. while F3 and its re'rerss 3-S sppearonceeach,lDo nor make the common mistake of a6.umin9rhal 5-3 and 3_5 are th same. They borh allow the s.me moveoptionsbut they are different asfar asprobabitity isconcerned). You can alro computeyou. cnances of iolins a 6 (or any number)ar follou6. The combinations indicate.rh.tthereare eleven differentrolls containing a 6. Five morecombinctions add up to 6(5-1, 4-2, 3-3, 2 -4, 1-5). Fina y, a rottol2_2 will .lloli one moveof 6 and another of 2 sincsdoubtets ar takentwice. whidt gives: = 17136 lll+5+ ll/36 Thar is, on 36 roll. of rwo dice, a co.nbination whi.h vrould allow6 moveol six points *routdoccur17 rimos:Simitar computations for numbG 1 to 5give: t-rt35 2-121 3-14136 4_1586 5_1586

Numbers greater than 6 can onlY occur bv rhe total ot two

1 I I 10 ll

6/36 (6-t, 5-2, 4-3, 3- 4. 2-5, 1-6) 6/36 (,6-2, 5-3, 4-4, 3-5, 2J, 2-2 doubletl 5/36 {6-3.5-'4, 4-5, 3-6, 3-3 doublr) 3/36 {6-4, 5-5, 4-6} 2/46 (6-5, 5-6) 3/36 (F6, 4-4 doublet, 3-3 doublet)