Backgammon Instructions

When you open a backgammon game, you will see the board on the left side of the board. To move your pieces, click on the piece you wish to move.

Underneath the board you will see the dice that your opponent used in their last turn.

On the right hand side, you will see the score card and your dice (if you are playing a 5 or 9 point game you may see links for Roll Dice or Offer Doubling Cube).

On the score card you will see your score, how many pieces you have sent home and pips to go. Pips to go refers to how many spaces all of your pieces have to go to get home.


Rules
The object of a backgammon game is to be the first player to move all your pieces off the board.

Players move their pieces around the board in a counter-clockwise direction. To move your pieces, you must move the number of spaces indicated on each dice when possible. Eg. if your dice roll is 6 and 1 then you must move one piece 6 spaces and one piece 1 space.

You may move the same piece twice in one turn eg. Move a piece 6 spaces, then move it 1 space. If you throw doubles then you get a total of 4 moves instead of just 2.

If you cannot use both dice rolls, then you must use the highest number when possible. Eg. If you roll a 5 and a 3 and can move either the 5 or the 3 but not both , then you must use the 5. If you cannot use the 5 at all, you must still use the 3 if possible.

Movement
When moving your pieces, you can only move onto spaces already occupied by your own pieces, empty spaces or spaces containing only one of your opponents pieces, spaces containing 2 or more of your opponents pieces cannot be moved onto.

If you move onto a space containing one of your opponents pieces, the opponents piece is captured and is set on the bar. Players must move all pieces off the bar before moving any other piece on the board.

Pieces on the bar are entered from the top right corner of the board , the furthest point away from the players home.

Bearing Off
Once you have moved all your pieces into your home board area, you may start bearing off your pieces, to win the game you must bear off all 15 pieces. When possible you must use an exact dice roll to bear a piece off, eg. if you have a piece 4 spaces from HOME, then you must use a dice roll 4 to bear the piece off, You may use a higher dice roll than needed to bear a piece off if there are no pieces on the rolled space or on a higher point. Eg. if you roll a 5 and have no pieces on the 5 or the 6 points, then you may bear off a piece on the 4 point.

Doubling Cube
The doubling cube is available in 5 & 9 point matches. You may double the doubling cube at the start of your turn, you should only double the cube if you feel you are in a good position to win. Your opponent has the option to accept or reject the doubling. If they reject the doubling, then the game ends with the doubling cube value at its original value, eg. if the cube value is 4 and you double the cube to 8 and your opponent rejects it, then you will win with the doubling cubes value at 4.

Scoring
The score for winning a game is based on the positions of your opponents pieces when you have taken all your pieces off the board, and the value of the doubling cube.

If your opponent has already beared pieces off the board then the basic value for the win is 1 point, if they have not taken any pieces off the board, then you will win 2 points, if your opponent has pieces on the bar or inside YOUR home board and has not beared any pieces off the board, then you will receive 3 points for the win. After this has been calculated this number is multiplied by the value of the doubling cube. Eg. if you received 2 points for the win and the cube value is 4 then you will receive 2 * 4 points which will give you 8 points for the win.

Crawford Round
In a 5 or 9 point match, when a player gets to within 1 point of winning the match for the first time, this is a crawford round, in a 5 point match this would be when the score is:4-0,4-1,4-2 or 4-3. In a crawford round the doubling cube is not available. Any round after the crawford round will contain the doubling cube, even though a player may still be one point away from winning the match.

Game Options
Game Type:
You can choose from 3 game types, Standard, 5 pt pro and 9pt pro. In a standard game, only 1 point is needed to win, there is no doubling cube in standard games. 5 & 9 point games , to win , you must score at least 5 or 9 points, which may take multiple games to achieve. The doubling cube is in play on these games.

Preferences
Theme: Choose from Standard (recommended), Glassy or Classic look.
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