INSTRUCTIONS
Classic Family Games
Bar
Black's Outer Table Black's Inner Table
BLACK
White's Outer Table White's Inner Table
WHITE
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
points
how points
are numbered
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
PREMIUM WOOD CABINET
BACKGAMMON
AGES: 8+
PLAYERS: 2
EQUIPMENT: 15 black and 15 white color wood pieces
(stones), game board, dice, & doubling die
OBJECT: Be the first player to move all your stones around
the points on the game board to your home table (your inner
table) and “bear them off” (remove them from the game
board). Usually, several games are played, with the winner of
each game earning points–the first to reach a score of 10
points wins the match.
SETUP: 15 black tokens, 15 white tokens. Players choose to
be the black or white and then set up the game board as
shown below. The game tokens in backgammon are referred
to as “stones.” Each player rolls a die to determine who has
the first move, ties are re-rolled. The player with the highest
number will begin the game by using the two high numbers
of the dice that were just cast by himself and his opponent.
MOVING STONES: Count begins on point next to one on
which a stone rests. In general, a player moves the stones
one at a time along the points in a loop that extends from his
opponent’s 1-point to his own 1-point. The opponent’s stones
travel in the opposite direction. Dice advance a stone forward
the rolled number of points and the stone comes to rest at
the base of the point. A player can move two stones, one for
each die, or a single token twice, once for each die. A player
can choose to use only one die, but it must be the highest
count die. If a player rolls doubles, they are doubled again.
(example: a 5-5 becomes a 5-5-5-5 which equals four
separate moves). There is no limit to the number of stones
belonging to the same player that may rest on one point. A
point housing two or more stones of the same player is
BLOCKED against an opponent, and his stones may not
land on that point, although it may be jumped. When a player
cannot move because of blocked points he loses the move.
BLOTS: A single stone resting on a point is a BLOT; an
opponent may land on the point and HIT the blot, which
sends it to the bar at the center of the board. A stone on the
Bar must start over on his opponent’s 1-point. This stone on
the Bar must re-enter his opponent’s inner table before
making another move. He cannot enter on a blocked point.
Two or more blots may be hit in one play.
BEARING OFF: When either player succeeds in moving all
of his stones around the board to his inner table, he starts to
“bear off” (remove) stones from points corresponding to the
dice thrown. The player can either move a stone within his
inner table or bear it off. For example, a 1-2 that is rolled,
may be used to bear off a stone from the 1-point and the 2-
point, or the player may choose to move a stone from the 3-
point to the 6-point. When casting a number higher than any
point covered, a stone from the highest point may bear off,
but he cannot bear off a stone if the point indicated is vacant
and there is a stone on a higher counting point. If, while
bearing off, a token is HIT, the player’s stone goes to the Bar
and must
reenter in the usual way. This stone must travel all around the
board to his inner table again before more stones can be moved
or taken off.
DOUBLING: The doubling cube (the die w/numbers) changes
winners’ scores dramatically; therefore, games are played to 20
or 50 or more points. At the beginning of the game the doubling
die is neutral and is placed face up on the 64. At any time during
the game a player can turn it so that the 2 is face up and offer it
as a “bet” to his opponent, raising the stakes of the game. If the
bet is accepted by the opponent, the game is now worth 2 points
to the winner (instead of the standard 1 point). If the opponent
rejects the bet, he forfeits the game and his opponent earns 1
point. If the opponent accepted the bet, he now has the right to
double the bet to a 4 later in the game and in turn, the opponent
must choose to accept or forfeit. This scenario may continue
indefinitely but there are usually not more than four or five in any
game. The points increase as follows: 2,4,8,16,32, etc.
GAMMON/BACKGAMMON: The winner of the game is the first
player to remove all his stones from the board. If the loser has
not borne off any of his stones, it is called a GAMMON and the
stakes of the game are doubled. If the loser still has stones on
the winner’s inner table, it is called a BACKGAMMON and the
game stakes triple. This includes stakes raised by doubling.
ITEM NO. 5730
