Single game
You win normally when you bear every checker off and your opponent has borne off at least one. That is 1 point × the cube value. The cube starts at 1, so a plain win is usually just one point.
Sit down
Watch the checkers actually move.
Click through the tour, hover a first roll, skim scoring and a few words. Then you’re ready for a real seat.
Interactive rules tour
Six short steps. The board does the talking.
Step 1 of 6
Setup
First-roll cheat sheet
Hover or tap a roll. Solid defaults — not commandments.
Pick a roll
White to open
Every first roll is a choice: make a point, run a back checker, or split.
How scoring works
Points, gammons, and the cube — plain English for your first money games or club night.
Gammon
You clear the board before they have borne off any checker. That is a gammon: 2 × the cube. Painful. Worth celebrating quietly.
Backgammon (the triple)
Same as a gammon, plus they still have a checker in your home board or sitting on the bar. That is a backgammon: 3 × the cube. Rare, rude, and the reason the game has its name.
The doubling cube
It is not a die you roll. It sits in the middle at 1 until someone thinks they are ahead and offers to double. Opponent can take (game continues at the new stake; they now own the cube and can redouble later) or drop (they lose the current stake immediately). Only the player who owns the cube may offer the next double — until then, the other side is stuck with the value you set.
Match play
Club matches often play to a fixed score — first to 5, 7, or 11 points, for example — instead of settling every game in cash. The cube still matters; gammons and backgammons still multiply.
Tiny glossary
A handful of words so you can sit down without faking it.
Anchor
A point you own in the opponent’s home. Your emergency apartment. Hard to evict.
Blot
A lonely checker. Cute until someone lands on it. Then it is on the bar, and you are doing homework.
Doubling cube
Not a die you roll: it shows 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64. Offer to double when you like your position. They take — game continues at the new stake, they own the cube — or drop and lose the current stake.
Gammon
You bear every checker off before they bear off even one. Double the stake (2 × cube). Same family as the game’s name; not the same word.
Backgammon
The triple win: they have not borne off, and still have a checker in your home or on the bar. Triple the stake (3 × cube). See scoring.
Pip count
How many pips until all your checkers are off. Lower is closer to done. Starting race: 167–167.
Prime
Six points in a row you own. The opponent cannot jump a six-prime. A velvet rope across the board.