Learn the game

Backgammon strategy

Backgammon rewards a handful of skills more than any others: knowing the rules cold, counting the race quickly, and handling the doubling cube without flinching. These guides take you from your first game to the judgement that wins matches — written for players who want to actually improve, not just read.

Start here How to play backgammon The board, the starting position, moving and hitting, bearing off and the cube — the complete rules in one read. First moves Opening moves The best play for every opening roll — which make a point, which split or build, and the reasoning behind each. Pip counting The 13-count Ash Dalvi's shortcut for counting the race: group your checkers into 13s, multiply, and read a position in seconds. The race Racing & when to run Read the pip count, know when to break contact and run, and bring your checkers home to convert a lead. Attacking play Priming & blitzing The two great offensives: wall the opponent in behind a prime, or attack loose checkers and close them out. Checker-play craft Duplication & diversification Make the opponent's numbers do double duty, and give yourself the most useful numbers next turn. Patient play Holding games & anchors Hold the golden anchor, wait for a shot, and turn a single late hit into a win when you are behind. From behind The back game The deepest fight-back: two anchors, perfect timing, and a late hit you can contain. A last resort, played well. Into the endgame Bearing in Bring your last checkers home in good order, keeping a smooth board for the bear-off. Endgame Bearing off How to lift your checkers off efficiently, avoid wasted pips, and stay safe while an opponent still holds an anchor. Cube play The doubling cube The 25% take point, the doubling window and being too good to double — the skill that wins more points than checker play. Matches Match play & the Crawford rule How the score changes every decision: match equity, the Crawford rule, gammon value and double-match-point.

Where improvement actually comes from

Backgammon skill is not spread evenly across everything you could learn — three areas decide the great majority of games. First, knowing the rules and the standard opening plays cold, so you never waste a roll. Second, counting the race: a quick pip count tells you whether to race or to hold, and that single judgement colours every other decision on the board. Third — and most valuable of all — the doubling cube, where strong players win far more points than they ever do from clever checker play.

The guides above run roughly along that path, from first moves through the race and the attacking and defensive plans to cube and match play. If you study only three things, make them the opening, the pip count and the cube; everything else refines a game those three already win.

Reading only takes you so far, though. Pair each idea with practice: try it on the playable board, test your race judgement on the daily puzzle, and lean on the calculators for the exact numbers behind the pip count, match equity and the doubling cube. A concept you have used a dozen times sticks in a way that one you have only read about never quite does — so treat these guides as something to play alongside, not just to read.

New to the game? Read how to play first, then start a game pass-and-play with a friend to let the rules settle. From there, counting the race and the cube are where most of your improvement will come from. When you want a change of pace, the variants — Nackgammon, Acey-Deucey, Tavli and the Bulgarian games Tapa and Gul Bara — each reward slightly different instincts, and every term you meet along the way is explained in the glossary.