Standard Rules in Playing Live Backgammon

Backgammon is a two-player board game. The backgammon board consists of twenty four triangles termed as points. The points have alternate colors and they are in groups of four quadrants that are composed of six triangles. These quadrants composed each player's home board and outer board which are divided by a ridge or a bar at the center of the board.

Each player' home board points are numbered. The 24-point is the outermost point of each player, and both of them starts with 15 chips each. Each player starts at a particular chips arrangement: 2 on the 24-point, 5 on the 13-point, 3 on the 8-point and 5 on the 6-point. A dice cup for shaking and a pair of dice per player are the other important components of the game. In order to track the game's current stake, a doubling cube will be used. Its faces are numbered 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64.

A single die will be thrown by both players to determine who will start first. The player who gets the higher number from the dice roll will start moving his chips according to the numbers on both dice. After the first dice roll, each player will take turns in throwing their two dice.

The points that a player can move with his chips are determined by his dice roll. The chips are moved toward the lower number point. Take note that a chip could only be moved to an unoccupied point and the outcome of the two dice indicates two moves. For instance, one player rolls 3 and 5; a chip could be moved five spaces to an unoccupied point and the other chip, 3 spaces to another unoccupied point; or he could move one chip 8 spaces provided that the next point is open as well.

Other rules on the dice roll such as doubles enables a player to make combination moves to his chips according to the outcome of the roll. For instance, the outcome of his dice roll is 6 and 6, which according to the doubles rule translates as four 6's to use in one move.

If it is legally possible for a player, he may use any number on a dice roll or all 4 numbers of a double. If there's only one number, then the player should use it. If only one number from a dice roll can be played, the player should use the larger number; if not, he loses. In doubles, if a player cannot play all four numbers, he could play as many numbers as he wish.

The goal of backgammon is to move all the chips in each player's home board and the first player to yield off all his chips wins.