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| Are you a loyal member of the backgammon ‘world-team’? Do you play backgammon in tournaments for money? Or do you rather play for the sake of playing? Either you play for real money or to have fun, it is essential for you to know the opening moves and replies for the exciting game of backgammon. This article is going to present you the basics. |
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Let's get started with the setup-position in backgammon! The checkerboard has two sides, each of them containing twelve narrow triangles which are the so-called 'points'. The points between the edges of the board are connected to each other, forming a strange shape, and they have numbers from one to twenty-four. Both player starts with two of their pieces on their twenty-four point, three counters on their number eight point, and finally with five-five pieces on their thirteen and number six point. In contemporary backgammon players are to move their pieces in an opposing direction. This means a player will start the game from his own twenty-four point until reaching point number one. Triangles from number one until six have a differentiating name (home board), while those from number seven until twelve form the outer board. Point number seven is called the bar point, while point number thirteen is the mid point. It's not so difficult, is it? If it seems too complicated, just take a look at a regular backgammon board, and you will know all these points by heart!
The next thing to be discussed is the opening movement regarding the checkers! How does a backgammon game start? Both players have a roll with one dice, and that player who had the better roll is the first to start the backgammon game. This new roll must be made with both dice, which have to land flat on a special place at the checkerboard. After a successful roll, the player makes his or her move according to the dice and then the turn is changed. But what does a turn refer to?
A turn actually means that both players have made their rolls legally, and have moved according to these rolls. Bear in mind that moving is obligatory! Let's see what it means 'moving according to the dice'! If you happen to roll a 5 and a 2 (in short, a '5-2'), you have to try to move up one of your pieces five points, and another one or the same one up with two points. As you could see, you are allowed to move the same piece twice only if the two moves are separated from each other: five and then two, or two and then five in our case.
And what do you think happens if you roll two of the very same number? In backgammon this case is specially treated. Its name is 'doubles', and it means you might use each rolled number twice. So once you have rolled a 6-6, you can move forward with four separate pieces with six spaces each. Moving according to both dice is mandatory if possible. On the other hand, if you cannot make any moves, your turn is over and your opponent is the next to roll.
Let's move on to another interesting situation, namely to the case if you are able to move according to one die, but not to both. In this case, you must move according to the bigger number. For instance, if you happened to roll 5-3 but can only play either the 5 or the 3, you have to move the 5 because that's the higher number. On the other hand, if you can only move the 3, then you must play it. Moreover, if there is no possibility to move a checker according to one die, but which move can be made possible by making another move, that one is compulsory. In order for you to understand this better, let's see an example! If you roll a 5-2 for instance, and you cannot move the 2 by any piece, you can still make the following thing. You first make your move according to the five, but be careful! You might have two possibilities of moving your five, one of them making possible for the two to be played later. So if you make the right move of five, you will be able to play your other rolled number as well. That’s why it is so important to understand and know the right moves and the appropriate replies.
All in all, there is an obligation in backgammon according to which a player must make his or her possible moves, and thus use up every possible option provided by the dice rolls. Talking about opening moves and replies, you must not forget that you might place your counter on any unoccupied point or to a point which only has your own counters on it. Another possible option for you would be moving your checker to a point which is occupied by maximum one piece of your opponent. This piece is called a ‘blot’, and if you move your counter to that point, you automatically hit the ‘blot’. This means that your opponent’s checker, the blot is put on the bar, so to the middle dividing line of the checkerboard. However, your piece is not allowed to land on a point which has two or more pieces of your opponent on it. Therefore, it is an ever-lasting backgammon rule, that none of the points is occupied by your and your opponent’s checkers in the same time!
But what can you do if your blot was hit? An appropriate move or reply to this is re-entering this checker by way of the other player’s home board. For instance, if you throw a three, you may enter your blot on point number twenty-two; if you roll a four, you can enter your piece on the twenty-one-point. So re-entering is not so complicated! Don’t forget, though, that unless you have re-entered all of your checkers from the bar to the game, you are not allowed to move any of your other pieces!
After talking about the opening moves and replies, let’s have a short discussion about the most important point of the backgammon game, the bearing-off section! This might be started after all of your pieces are in your home board. If one is bearing their checkers off he or she is actually removing them from the board, but only after these are in the player’s home board. But how can you do that actually? It’s very simple, listen! If you throw a one, you can use that roll to remove a checker from the one-point. A checker at the two-point can be borne off with a two, and so forth. So you cannot remove a piece from a point which has a lower number than the rolled one, with the exception that you haven’t got any checker on a higher point. Let’s see this in practice! If you happen to roll a 6-4, but you haven’t got an pieces on the six-point, and you have two pieces on the four-point, this means you are obliged to use the 6 and the 4 to remove the two counters from the four-point.
Before the end, we should discuss about a peculiar situation! When bearing off, you have the chance to make the first move according to the lower rolled number, and use the higher number only after that. You can make this even if the total value of the second (higher) die is not used entirely. This moving strategy is often used by skilful players as a manoeuvre. For instance, if you roll a 5-2, and you have a single remaining piece on the five-point, you can move the five-point piece two spaces to the three-point with using the lower roll of two, and after this move bear that piece off the three-point using the higher roll of five. So don’t forget to play foxy, as this is essential in backgammon!
Finally we should talk about scoring! So what is the end or the main target of this set of moves and replies? This is obvious, as backgammon is played for points. There are practically three cases. The first is the simplest one: if you lose, then your opponent gets one point. However, if by the end you don’t manage to bear off any counters and your opponent manages to bear all of his or her fifteen pieces off, this means a two-point loss, and is called a gammon. The triple of the normal loss is called a backgammon (thus the name of the game), and this refers to the case if a player loses without bearing any of his/her checkers off, and he/she also has one or more pieces either on the bar or in the other player’s home board. So be careful to these double and triple losses or winnings! Have a good luck! |
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