Welcome to backgammon-the worlds oldest, cruelest, most popular, and most exciting game. Does that sound like a lot of superlatives? It sure does-and they e all true.
 

Cruelest? How cruel can a game be? Until you play backgammon for awhile, youll have no idea. No game is finished until the two armies break contact and race for the finish line. Players whove been playing for a few years will tell you incredible stories of dead-won posi­tions that were ruined by the most amazing series oflong­shot rolls. In fact, at some tournaments there are formal competitions for the best hard-luck stories. Every player has his own storybook of miraculous wins and nightmar­ish losses. After awhile, youll have a few of your OWll­I guarantee it.
 

Backgammons easy to learn and in my first two chap­ters, Ill show you all you need to know to set up a board and playa game with a friend- in just 15 or 20 minutes youll be up and running.
 

In this book, Im going to introduce you to my style. Its based on what I call dynamic play-taking some chances early to reap big rewards later. Opening play is the foundation oflater success, so in Chapter 4, well look at dynamic openings. Chapters 5 and 6 are the meat of the book-two complete games, with diagrams and com­ments after nearly every move. A good game of back­gammon is like a well-conducted military maneuver. In these two chapters, well oversee the plan of attack, and see how a well-constructed opening plan can pave the way to a decisive victory.
 

If you are like most people, this book will just whet your appetite for more. In the final chapters, well introduce you to the club and tournament scene, and give you some pointers for future improvement.
 

The luckiest thing I ever did in my life was learn how to play backgammon. Thats a move you e about to make, and I hope its just as lucky for you, too.
 
Most board games fall into one of two general types: the war games, or games of maneuver, encirclement and capture (chess and checkers are the most popular ex­amples), and race games such as backgammon, where the objective is to outrace your opponent around some sort of track or layout.
 

Backgammon is by far the most popular of the race games. Each player has an army of 15 pieces, also called checkers or men, which move around a board consisting of24 triangular points. The points are similar to squares on a chessboard, except that each point can hold any number of men from the same army.
 

THE PLAYERS

Backgammon is played by two opposing players, but unlike chess or checkers, it makes no difference what color pieces you play-either color is equally likely to make the first move.
 

THE EQUIPMENT

To play backgammon, you need the following equip­ment:
 

• A backgammon board.
 
• Thirty round checkers, fifteen each of two different colors. The checkers are often referred to as men or pieces.
 

• Two pairs of dice. Usually, dice with rounded comers are used, although this is not strictly necessary.
 

• Two dice cups, for shaking and throwing the dice. The best dice cups have a small lip, or raised surface just inside the mouth of the cup, to guarantee that the dice are rolling when they leave the cup.
 

• A doubling cube, a six-sided cube with the numbers 2, 4,8, 16,32 and 64 on the six faces. This keeps track of the number of units at stake in the game.
 

THE BACKGAMMON BOARD Backgammon boards vary widely in price and quality. You can buy an inexpensive board at your local game department store for just a few dollars. You can spend about $100 and get a full tournament-sized set with a playing surface of cork or cloth. Or, if you e feeling wealthy or just extravagant, you can spend over $1000 for beautiful leather boards with contrasting leather and brass accessories.
 

Most backgammon sets fold in half for convenience. Clubs, however, sometimes purchase solid sets made from one piece of wood. And some sets are even inlaid into table tops. Whatever your choice, you should invest in a backgammon set and use it to play along with the examples in this book. Youll find that learning the concepts is much easier if you actually take the time to move real pieces about on a real board.

The board is divided into four sections, or quadrants, with six points in each quadrant. Running down through the middle of the board is a raised section known as the bar. The bar is not a point but instead, is a resting place for checkers that have been hit, or captured, during the course of play. Once a checker has been hit, it is placed on the bar, and must first reenter in the farthest quadrant before any other pieces can move.

HOW TO SET UP THE BOARD Diagram 2 shows the initial placement ofthe pieces at the beginning of the game. Black has two pieces on the point labelled 24, three pieces on point 8, and five pieces on points 6 and 13. Whites position is the mirror image of Blacks. He has two checkers on point 1, three on point 17, and five each on points 12 and 19.

THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT The two armies race around the board in opposite direc­tions. Diagram 3 shows the direction of movement of the two armies.

Black checkers move in a clockwise direction, from the upper left to the upper right quadrants, then down to the lower right quadrant and finally to the lower left quad­rant. The White checkers move in the opposite direction.
 

Notice that the top and bottom halves of the board are connected along the right-hand side: a Black piece mov­ing to the point numbered 13 in the diagram moves next to the point numbered 12, and then along to 11 and so forth. A White piece moving along the bottom of the board to point 12 will next move to point 13, and then to the left along the top edge of the board.
 
HOW TO MOVE THE PIECES

In backgammon, the two players take turns moving. To make a move, a player puts two dice in his cup, shakes them, and rolls the dice out onto the right-hand side of the board. He then moves his checkers corresponding to the numbers on the dice.
Suppose, for instance, it is your turn and you roll a 3 and a 1. You can move two separate checkers, or you can make your whole move with one checker. You may move one checker three spaces forward and another checker one space forward, or one checker a total offour spaces forward. This is not quite the same as having a move of four spaces as we shall see, for each die must be played individually.
 

Look at Diagram 4. Black has a 3-1 to play. (Remember that Black moves clockwise around the board). He elects to move one checker from the 13-point to the 1 O-point (a total of three spaces) and another checker from the 24­point to the 23-point (one space). The resulting position is shown in Diagram 5. 
 
In Diagram 6, White has a 4-2 to play. He elects to move one checker four spaces from the 17 -point to the 21-point (White moves in the opposite direction from Black) and one checker two spaces from the 19-pointto the 21-point. Diagram 7 shows the position after White has played the 4-2.
 

DOUBLES

Up to now weve looked at what happens when you throw two different numbers on the dice. Suppose, how­ever, that the same number comes up on both dice? Thats called throwing doubles, and its very good for you.
 

When you throw doubles, you get to play the number, not just twice, but four times! In most positions, this gives you a powerful jump on your opponent, and in fact, if you throw more doubles than your opponent, you will prob­ably win the game.
 

In Diagram 8, Black has thrown double-4s. He has many ways to play the number, all of which are good for him. One of the best is to use two of his 4s to bring both men from the 24-point to the 20-point, and the other two 4s to bring two men from the 13-point to the 9-point. The resulting position is shown in Diagram 9.

Two checkers of the same color on a point constitute a made point, or simply a point. The opposing player cannot land on that point by an exact count, although he may hop over the point and move beyond it.

Look at Position 10. Black has a 5-3 to play. Notice that he cannot move either ofthe checkers on the 24-point. He can move them 3 spaces, because the point 3 spaces away is the 21-point, and White has made that point with two of his checkers. He also can move the checkers 5 spaces, because the point 5 spaces away is the 19-point, and White has made that point with four of his checkers. So the checkers on the 24-point can move either part of the roll, although the point 8 spaces away, the 16-point, is still wide open.
 

Several points in a row constitute a prime. Six points in a row is a full prime, and any checkers caught behind a full prime are trapped until the prime is broken.
 

You must always play both parts of your throw if you can. Take a look at Diagram 11. Black has a 6-4 to play.
 

Notice that if Black plays his 4 first, from 24 to 20, then he has no 6 to play anywhere on the board! This isn legal. Black could play either 24 to 18 and 13 to 9, or 13 to 9 to 3. But he must use his whole throw ifhe can.

Black has a 6 and a 5 to play. Ifhe decides to play the 6, he will have no legalS, but ifhe plays the 5, he will have no 6! In this case, Black must play the larger of the two numbers. His only legal play is from 18 to 12, stopping there.

BLOTS

A blot is a single checker on a point. While two men on a point constitute a strong fortress that can restrain an opponent, a blot is a vulnerable weakness, which can be hit and sent back to the beginning of the race.
 

Look at Diagram 13 on the next page.
 
White has a blot on the I5-point. Black now rolls a 6-3. He can take one of his checkers on the 24-point, move it to the I5-point using his entire roll, and hi/the White blot. The White blot now moves from the 15-point to the bar (the raised area in the center of the board).
 

The resulting position is shown in Diagram 14 on the next page.
 
ENTERING FROM THE BAR

The bar is a sort of holding pen, where White and Black checkers that have been hit are placed to restart their race around the board. Once a checker is on the bar, no other checker can be moved until that checker has been reen­tered onto the board. Whites checkers must enter in Blacks home board (points 1- 6). Blacks checkers enter in Whites home board (points 24-19).
 

Lets look at Diagram 14 again. White has been sent to the bar and must now enter before he can make any move with his other pieces. Suppose his next roll is a 2-6. This gives him a 2 and a 6 to play. He could use the 2 to enter his checker from the bar to the 2-point, which is open.
 

But notice that he can use the 6 to enter, because the 6­point is a made point and belongs to Black. So half of Whites move is forced-he has to use his 2 to place the checker from the bar to the 2-point. He can now make any legal 6 he wishes. Suppose he plays a checker from the I-point to the 7 -point. The resulting position is shown in Diagram 15.

To begin the game, each player puts one die in his cup, shakes it, and rolls the die out into his right-hand half of the board. The player who throws the larger number moves first, and his roll is the combination of the two dice. For example: you and I are playing. You roll a five, and I roll a three. You have the opening roll, and you must playa 5-3.
 

Some players play with the rule of automatic doubles: if both players roll the same number on the opening throw, the cube is turned to 2 and the players roll again. However, this is an optional rule.
 
THE OB.JECT OF THE GAME

When playing backgammon, your objective is to take all your checkers off the board before your opponent. Be­fore you can take any checkers offthe board, however, you must first maneuver all your checkers into your own inner board. In the diagrams that weve been using, the points labelled I through 6 are Blacks inner board or home, while the points labelled 19through24 are Whites inner board or home.
 

Once allIS of your checkers are in your own inner board, you may begin bearing off. (See explanation below). If you bear off all your checkers before your opponent, but your opponent gets at least one checker off, you win a single game, worth I point. If you bear off all your checkers before your opponent bears off any checkers, you win a gammon, or double game, worth 2 points.
 

And, if you bear off all your checkers and your opponent still has one or more checkers on the bar or in your inner board, you win a backgammon, or triple game, worth 3 points!
 

BEARING OFF

The object ofthe game is to bear all your checkers offthe board before your opponent. However, you cannot bear off any checkers until all your checkers are in your home board.
 
Blacks home board are the points labelled 1- 6; Whites home board are points 19 through 24. In Diagram 16, Black has already maneuvered all his men home. White, on the other hand, still has two men in his outer board. Black can start bearing off immediately; White still has to move those two outside men home.
 

To bear off, you roll the dice and remove men corre­sponding to the numbers thrown. For example, if Black throws a 5 and a 3 in Diagram 16, he may remove a checker from his 5-point and a checker from his 3-point. Once removed, a checker can never be returned to play.
 

You are not, however, compelled to remove checkers with the numbers thrown. With the 5-3 roll, Black could, if he wished, playa checker from his 6-point to his 1­point and a checker from his 5-point to his 2-point.
 
However, this would not be as good as removing check­ers from the board.
 

If you roll a number higher than the highest occupied point, you may use it to bear a checker off the highest occupied point. Look at Diagram 17.
 
In this case, Black has no checkers on either the 6-point or the 4-point. He can use the 6 to bear off the checker from the 5-point, and then use the 4 to bear offhis checker on the 3-point. If, in the process of bearing off, you leave a blot and your opponent hits you, you must first reenter that checker and bring it around to your home board before bearing off any other checkers.
 

Look at Diagram 18.
 
Black has been rolling well and has only 10 checkers left. White, on the other hand, is in bad shape. Hes way behind, and might conceivably lose a gammon or a backgammon. Watch how quickly the tables can turn.
 

In Diagram 18, Black rolls 65. With the 6, he has to play a checker off the 6-point, leaving a vulnerable blot. With the 5, he would like to move that blot to a safe point, but he can ; the point five away from the 6-point is the 1­point, and White owns that. The only other play with the 5 is to take a checker off the 5-point, leaving another vulnerable blot!
 

Look at Diagram 19 on the next page.
 
Blacks left himself wide open and White pounces, rolling a 54! With the 5, he plays from the I-point to the 6-point, hitting Blacks blot and sending it to the bar. With the 4, he plays from the I-point to the 5-point, hitting the other blot.
 

The new position is shown in Diagram 20 on the next page.
 

What can Black do? He has to enter checkers from the bar before he can move any others. But he has to enter in Whites home board (the points numbered 19 through 24), and White owns all those points! No matter what number Black throws, it will correspond to a point that White has made.
 

Whites position is known as a closed board, and as long as White maintains this position, Black has no chance of entering and has to forfeit his turn.
 

The future course of this game is pretty clear. White will move his three remaining checkers around and in to his home board. Eventually, he will start removing check­ers, and as he does, he will open up some of the points which he now controls. Once he does, Black can try to enter.
 
Even after Black enters both his men, however, he will have to move them around and back into his home board before he can start bearing off again. Thats going to take a long time, however, so right now White is a big favorite to win the game. Thats backgammon: a single stroke of bad luck (or good luck, depending on your point of view) can turn an apparently overwhelming position into a disaster.

THE DOUBLING CUBE

In the 1920s, some unknown genius, probably living in the New York area, created something which forever changed the way backgammon was played: the doubling cube. With the addition ofthe doubling cube (backgam­mon players just refer to it as he cube) backgammon became a quicker, more exciting game-the best two­player game in the world.
 

The doubling cube works like a raise in poker. If you like your position, you may raise the stakes, hoping to either drive the opposing player out of the game, or force him to accept a disadvantageous position at double the stakes.
 

The doubling cube is slightly larger than the dice used to determine the moves, and has the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16,32 and 64 on its six sides. The cube is used to determine the value of the game (in a game played for money) or the number of points won or lost (in a tournament match).
 

At the beginning of a game, the doubling cube is placed between the two players with the number 64 facing up. Since there is no 1 on the cube, this indicates that the value of the game is currently 1 point. When one player feels that he has a solid advantage, he may choose to double the value of the game. He does this by saying I double, or something to that effect, and placing the cube on his opponents side of the board with the number 2 facing up.
 

The second player now has a choice. He may feel he is a big underdog, and give up the game. In this case, he says I drop, and the game is finished. The player who doubled wins one point (the previous value ofthe cube).
 

Perhaps, however, the second player feels he still has a fighting chance to win. In this case he may say I take, or I accept and place the cube on his side of the board. He now owns the cube. The game continues, but the value of a single game is now doubled, 2 points. A gammon is now worth 4 points, and a backgammon is worth 6 points. Once the initial double has been made, only the player who owns the cube has the right to redouble.
 

Suppose that after some rolls, the second player feels that the position has turned in his favor. In this case he may, before he rolls the dice, redouble the game by turning the cube to 4 and offering it back to the first player. The first player may now give up the game and lose 2 points, or play on by accepting the cube at 4. In this case a single game is now worth 4 points, a gammon is worth 8 points, and a backgammon, 12 points!
 

Theoretically, this doubling and redoubling could con­tinue for quite a while. In practice, between experienced players, the cube rarely gets beyond the 4 level. How­ever, every veteran player has experienced a few games where the cube has reached 32 (or more)!