How do you play Backgammon for 101 points?

Answer 1

The game:

Backgammon is a race game for two players. Except for the doubling cube, which was added in the twentieth century, the game has been played in its current form for about 400 years. Games that are close relatives of backgammon have been played from Europe to the Far East since ancient times.


Although backgammon is partly a game of chance, the more skillful player can expect to win a good percentage of the time. Nearly every dice throw offers many choices of where to move, and the game lends itself to a range of very different strategies. The doubling cube also significantly increases the complexity of decision-making.


The Playing game:

To begin the game, each player rolls one die. High roller moves first.

Each player in turn rolls two dice, then moves his or her checkers according to the numbers shown on the dice. One checker is moved the exact amount showing on one die, then another checker--or the checker that just moved--is moved the exact amount on the other die.

Before moving any checkers off the board, a player must first bring them all into his or her inner board. After that, a die roll may be used to move a checker off the board by moving it beyond the last point on the board.

A checker does not need to move off the board by exact count; e.g., a checker on the 4-point may move off the board with a 4, 5, or a 6. However, a player must always play the full amount of a die when possible. In the following position, therefore, with a roll of 4-3, a player may not bear off a checker from either the 2 point or 1 point. Instead, the checkers on the 6-point and 5-point must both be moved (one of them 4 and the other 3).


In the same position, if the roll were 6-1, the normal move would be to bear off the checkers on the 6 and 1 points, but it would also be legal to use the move to play a 1 with the checker on the 6-point, followed by bearing off that checker from the 5-point by using the six. This is not an illegal case of using only one die when both could be used, because both numbers are actually being used even though one is wasted.


Term meanings of backgammon

anchor
a point held by a player in the opponent's inner board

backgame
a game in which a player controls at least two points in the opponent's inner board and hopes to use these points to hit the opponent when he or she tries to bear off

backgammon
besides the game itself, a situation when one player bears off all his or her checkers before the opponent bears off any (as in a gammon) and the opponent still has at least one checker in the winner's inner board. This is scored as a triple win in the U.S. but is no different from a gammon in the rest of the world.

bar point
a player's 7-point

bar
the narrow vertical area separating the left and right halves of the board, where a checker is placed when it is hit

bear in
to move checkers into the inner board

bear off
to move a checker off the board

bear-off
the stage of the game in which a player has all his or her checkers in the inner board and is in the process of moving them off the board

blot
a single checker on a point, which is therefore vulnerable to being hit; an exposed man

board (also called table)
the surface on which a game of backgammon is played; or a quadrant of the board, such as a player's inner board or outer board

box
in a chouette, the player who plays alone against the others

builder
a single checker on a space, which can potentially be used to make a point somewhere

bump
another word for hit

captain
in a chouette, the player who resolves disagreements for the team and becomes the player in the box if the team wins

checker
a playing piece, also known as a man or counter

chouette
a way of playing backgammon with more than two players, by having one player--the player "in the box"--play against a team of two or more other players. The team has a captain who resolves disagreements over where to move. If the team wins, the captain becomes the player in the box; if the team loses, the player in the box continues playing against the team and the team gets a new captain. If the team doubles, it does so as a unit; if the player in the box doubles, each team member may decide individually whether to accept or pass. close out (also called shut out)
a position in which one player controls all six points in the opponent's inner board and the opponent has at least one checker on the bar; in such a situation, the opponent cannot move until at least one point becomes open

come in
see enter

control a point
have at least two checkers on a point, preventing the opponent from landing there

control the cube
have possession of the doubling cube; same as "own the cube"

Crawford rule
a rule for match play that prohibits doubling for one game when a player is within one point of winning the match.

cube
see doubling cube

direct shot
see shot

doubles
both dice showing the same number, played as though four of the number were thrown

doubling cube
a cube similar in size to a die but with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 on its sides. When a game begins, the cube is normally turned so the 64 is on top. Either player may choose to double the stakes of the game by turning the cube to 2 and offering it to the opponent. Opponent may pass, giving up the game but losing only one point, or accept, taking control of the cube but agreeing to continue with the value of the game now being 2 points. A player owning the cube may redouble by turning the cube to the next higher number and offering it to the opponent, who has similar choices.

enter
come into the opponent's inner board from the bar

gammon
a situation when one player bears off all his or her checkers before the opponent bears off any. This is scored as a double game; i.e., the winner gets twice the value of the doubling cube.

go out
win a game that yields enough points to win a match

golden point
a player's twenty-point (i.e., the opponent's five-point)

hit
land on an opposing blot, which is then placed on the bar; also called "bump" or "knock off"

holding game
a defensive type of game in which a player controls points in the opponent's half of the board in hopes of keeping the opponent's checkers from safely reaching their inner board

home board
another name for inner board

indirect shot
see shot

inner board (also called home board)
the last quadrant of the board through which a player's checkers move before leaving the board, and where all checkers must be located before any are borne

Jacoby rule
Optionally, players may agree that gammons and backgammons do not count extra in undoubled games.

make a point
bring two or more checkers to a space, thereby controlling that space and keeping the opponent off it

match
a series of games played to an agreed point total, where one point is the value of winning an undoubled game

match point
the final point needed to win a match; a player is at match point when he or she needs one more point to win

midpoint
a player's 13-point (i.e., the opponent's 12-point)

on the bar
a phrase used to describe the location of checkers that have been hit but that have not yet entered

own the cube
have possession of the doubling cube by virtue of having been the last player to accept a double; at the start of a game, neither player owns the cube, and either may make the first double


outer board
the quadrant of the board adjacent to the inner board; the last quadrant through which a player moves his or her checkers before reaching the inner board

pass
decline a double, thereby conceding the game but limiting the loss to the number of points the game was worth before the double

pip
a number on a die, or the number of spaces a checker moves

pip count
a measure of the total number of spaces all of a player's checkers must move to be borne off

point
any of the board's 24 triangles; also, a unit of scoring equal to winning one game

prime
six closed points in a row; sometimes used to mean a lesser number of consecutive closed points, as in "a five-point prime"

quadrant
any of the four sections of the board; see also inner board, outer board

rail
another word for the bar

reenter
same as enter (move a checker back onto the board from the bar)

running game
the final stage of a backgammon game when the opponents' checkers have passed each other and have no further contact

shot
a chance to hit a blot; direct shots are chances to hit with a single, indirect or combined shots are 7 or more spaces away but can still be reached with some dice combination

shut out
another term for close out

slot
to leave a single checker on a point in hopes of adding another checker later to make that point

split
to separate two checkers that were together on a point

table
another word for board, used to mean either a quadrant of the board or the entire board

take
accept a double, thereby taking possession of the cube

Answer 2

Hey,
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GNU Backgammon is a version of the popular board game, which you can play directly on your computer. Several different games can be played against the computer, which has a powerful intelligence engine.
Enjoy it.