Backgammon — free online Board game
Race your fifteen checkers home, hit the computer's blots and bear off first.
Backgammon is the ancient race-and-strategy board game, free to play in your browser against the computer. Roll two dice and move your fifteen checkers round the board into your home, then bear them off before your opponent does. Land on a single enemy checker to hit it back to the bar, build points of two or more to block, and remember that doubles play four times. Full standard rules — entering from the bar, using both dice when you can, bearing off with higher numbers — plus gammon and backgammon wins. Three levels, from a casual easy opponent to a hard one that looks a roll ahead. No download, no sign-up.
Quick start
- Press Start. You play white and move towards your home board at the bottom right; an opening roll decides who goes first.
- Press Roll, tap one of your checkers (marked with a yellow dot) and then a green spot. Play each die in turn.
- Hit lone black checkers when you can and avoid leaving your own checkers alone in reach of black.
- When all fifteen are in your home board, tap the tray on the right to bear them off.
How to play Backgammon
- Each side has fifteen checkers. White moves from the top right, round the top, down and along the bottom into its home board at the bottom right; black moves the other way.
- Roll two dice and move one checker by each number, or one checker by both. A double is played four times.
- You may land on an empty point, a point with your own checkers, or a point with a single opposing checker (a blot), which is hit and placed on the bar. A point with two or more opposing checkers is blocked.
- A checker on the bar must re-enter in the opponent's home board before any other move.
- You must use both dice if you can; if only one can be played, it must be the larger when possible.
- Once all your checkers are in your home board you bear off: a die removes a checker from that point, or from the highest point if the die is larger than any point you occupy.
- First to bear off all fifteen wins. If the loser has borne off none it is a gammon (double); if they also still have a checker on the bar or in your home board, a backgammon (triple).
Controls
- Roll: the Roll button, Space or R
- Move: tap a checker (or the bar), then a green spot; tap the tray to bear off
- Take back moves this turn: the Undo button or U
- New game: the New game button or a difficulty
Strategy tips
- Make points in your home board: each one makes it harder for a hit black checker to come back in.
- Six points in a row (a prime) cannot be jumped at all.
- A blot six or fewer pips in front of an enemy checker can be hit by about 11 rolls in 36 — think twice before leaving one there.
- When contact is over, it is a pure race: watch the pip count shown under the dice.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a doubling cube?
No. Each game is played for a single win, a gammon or a backgammon, and your wins are counted per difficulty.
How strong is the computer?
Easy often makes random moves. Normal weighs racing, made points, blots and the bar. Hard does the same but also checks how each of your 21 possible replies would turn out.
Is Backgammon free?
Yes. It is completely free to play in your browser, with no download, no account and no in-game purchases.
Can I play on my phone?
Yes. The board scales to the screen; it is most comfortable with the phone held sideways.