Backgammon Rules & Etiquette

Club and Tournament Play

Examples of Casual/Cultural Play

Board

Tournament style 21" board

Various styles, and board sizes

Dice

2 dice and 1 dice cup per player

2 dice hand throws

Direction of Play

Highest throw chooses direction of play, and pieces or mutually agreed before start.

Only play in one direction, which can alternate after each game

Throwing the Dice

Thrown from dice cup well shaken prior to rolling

A hand dice throw is used

Legal Rolls

Cannot be 'cocked 'Throw must be on right-hand side, dice

Any side, cocked dice also count

Cocked Dice

Dice must lie flat on the playing surface both on the right side of the board. Re-throw if one or both dice are illegal

Where dice land is legal whether on the checkers, or the opposite side of the board.

Opening Roll

Highest number plays first after a single die is thrown by both players. The numbers on both dice are used at the start of each game

The Highest rolls or plays continues rolling first for subsequent games

Premature Rolls

Premature action rules apply

No rules apply

Number of Checkers per Point

No maximum limit

Maximum 5 per point

Checker Movement

Both dice are played with the numbers used in any order. If only one move is possible then the highest number is played

Highest number plays first

Pick and Pass

Permitted in home board.

Not allowed in home board.

Touch it - Move it

Touch moves allowed, but checkers must be returned to their original position before the final move

Touch it you use it.

Bear off

The exact number is not needed to bear off a checker

The exact number is necessary to bear off a checker

End of Move

The turn ends once the dice are lifted from the board. The opponent waits for the signal before throwing their dice

The move ends the moment the hand lifts off the piece to be moved.

Scoring

Double and triple stakes apply to Gammons and backgammons.

Backgammons score only two points, points are awarded based on the number of pieces the loser has left on the board

Doubling Cube

All Games are played with the cube detailed rules govern cube handling

are published

Games can be cubeless, no rules apply

Match Play

Crawford rule in place, Games are played to a set number of points.

Crawford rule unknown in most cases

Money Games

The Jacoby rule may or not be in force on Head to head, or with chouette money games ;

Certain cultures see Money games as taboo (e.g. Muslims), with the Chouette concept unfamiliar, and the Jacoby rule unknown.

Time Frame for Moves

Clock rules can apply

No formal time limits

Jargon

Jargon is used if and when the need arises

Even the simplest jargon maybe misunderstood