Backgammon has always been an attractive game for people. The old Egyptians, Romans, Greeks used to play backgammon. They say that Nero lost a fortune at this game; Caligula used to cheat; even Antonio and Cleopatra played backgammon. Actually the origins of this game are unknown.

Even if you have never played backgammon, when you try it you will definitely like it. Once you understand the rules of backgammon which are not difficult but which must be clearly respected, you will be able to try your luck and strategy with this game.

Backgammon is a board game for two players.

Each player has fifteen pieces or men which move between twenty-four points according to the roll of the two dice. The objective of the game is to be first to bear off, that is, to move all fifteen men off the board.

Though the gameplay is quite basic—each player is trying to move his men to his home board and then bear them off before his opponent is able to do so,.backgammon incorporates strategy as with each dice roll, the player must choose between multiple options for movement of the men. Furthermore, the doubling cube, which raises the stakes of the present game when a match consists of multiple games, and rules like the Crawford Rule and the Jacoby Rule, introduce more strategy into the game. Experts have also come up with a standard set of names to define commonly used general strategies for backgammon play such as the running game and the backgame.

Winning Tips

a. Keep your checkers in pairs to protect them from hits.

b. Don't hit your opponent when there are two or more blots in your home board.

c. Stake out six points in a row to keep your opponent from progressing. Make sure not to leave any blots in the row of six. This is known as forming a "prime".

d. Set up protected points on your opponent's home board as potential safe places to land if you are hit. These are known as "anchors".

e. Start out with small stakes until you are sure of your backgammon strategy.