TREASUREBACKGAMMON
Backgammon is a board game for two players in which the playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice. A player wins by removing all of his checkers from the Backgammon board. There are many variants of backgammon, most of which share common traits. Backgammon is a member of the table’s family, one of the oldest classes of board games in the world. Although luck plays an important role, there is a large scope for Backgammon strategy. With each roll of the dice a player must choose from numerous options for moving his checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent. Players may raise the stakes during the game. There is an established repertory of common tactics and occurrences.
- If you want to start playing but you don't know how to start to set the up the board and position the pieces, well you can get Backgammon instructions from a friend who will easily explain it to you.
- First of all you can find on each side of the Backgammon board 12 triangles, each one called a point. The points are virtually connected at one side of the board.
- Each point is numbered from 1 to 24. Each player always moves from the upper points’ to the lower,
- While each player's point is the other player's opposite point, for example, your point number 2 is your opponents point number 23.
- So you can understand from this that each player is going in a different direction.
Now that you understand the Backgammon board rules and the first order of the game pieces. Each player starts with two pieces on his point number 24, three pieces on his point number 8, and five pieces on his point’s number 13 and 6. As mentioned before, in order to win the game you need to remove all of your pieces from the Backgammon board, but you are able to start to remove your pieces only after you brought all of your pieces to your points 1 to 6 zone. The first player is set by rolling a dice, and the player with the higher number is the first to play, if the dices are equal both players roll again until there is a higher number.
Each turn, the player is rolling two dice. In each turn, you are able to move with your pieces only two points where the other players don't have more than one piece, if your opponent has one piece on this point that your piece can capture your opponents piece and he has to return from the start of the board and your opponent can't play online casino until his captured piece is back on the backgammon board. You must also check our backgammon variants section for some useful online casino information.
STRATEGY OF BACKGAMMON
Online Backgammon has an established opening theory, although it is less detailed than that of games like chess. The tree of positions expands rapidly because of the number of possible dice rolls and the moves available on each turn. Recent computer analysis has offered more insight on opening plays, but the midgame is reached quickly. After the opening, backgammon online players frequently rely on some established general strategies, combining and switching among them to adapt to the changing conditions of a game. The most direct strategy is simply to avoid being hit, trapped, or held in a stand-off. A "running game" describes a strategy of moving as quickly as possible around the board, and is most successful when an online player is already ahead in the race.
When this fails, one may opt for a "holding game", maintaining control of a point on one's opponent's side of the board, called an anchor. As the game progresses, this player may gain an advantage by hitting an opponent's blot from the anchor, or by rolling large doubles that allow the free checkers to escape into a running game. The "priming game" involves building a wall of checkers, called a prime, covering a number of consecutive points. This obstructs opposing checkers that are behind the prime. A checker trapped behind a six-point prime cannot escape until the prime is broken.
A particularly successful priming effort may lead to a "blitz", which is a strategy of covering the entire home board as quickly as possible while keeping one's opponent on the bar. Because the opponent has difficulty re-entering from the bar or escaping, a player can quickly gain a running advantage and win the game, often with a gammon. A "backgame" is a strategy of placing two or more anchors in an opponent's home board, while building a prime in one's own board. The anchors obstruct the opponent's checkers and create opportunities to hit them as they move home. The backgame is generally used only to salvage a game wherein a player is already significantly behind; using a backgame as an initial strategy is usually unsuccessful.
"Duplication" refers to the placement of checkers such that one's opponent needs the same dice rolls to achieve different goals. For example, a player may position all of his blots in such a way that his opponent must roll a 2 in order to hit any of them, reducing the probability of being hit. "Diversification" refers to a complementary tactic of placing one's own checkers in such a way that more numbers are useful. Many positions require a measurement of a player's standing in the race, for example, in making a doubling cube decision, or in determining whether to run home and begin bearing off.
The minimum total of dice rolls needed to move a player's checkers around and off the board is called the "pip count". The difference between the two players' pip counts is frequently used as a measure of the leader's racing advantage. Players often use mental calculation techniques to determine pip counts in live play.
BACKGAMMON VARIANTS
There are few many variants of standard backgammon rules. Some are played primarily throughout one geographic region, and others add new tactical elements to the game. Variants commonly alter the starting position, restrict certain moves, or assign special value to certain dice rolls, but in some geographic regions even the direction of the pieces and rules change, rendering the game fundamentally different. A common simple variant of Backgammon is to only allow a maximum of five checkers on any point. This variation is not part of the official rules, but has proved popular with casual players in some regions.
The popular GNU Backgammon software has an option for this, which is described as the 'Egyptian Rule', however the origin of that name might be due to a humorous invention. Acey-deucey is a variant of backgammon in which players start with no checkers on the board, and must bear them on at the beginning of the game. The roll of 1-2 is given special consideration, allowing the player, after moving the 1 and the 2, to select any doubles move of his choice. A player also receives an extra turn after a roll of 1-2 or of doubles. Hyper gammon is a variant of backgammon in which players have only three checkers on the board, starting with one each on the 24-, 23- and 22-points.
In this game all the men start off the board. They enter and move around the board in the same way as men sent home in regular backgammon games. In other words, the white men enter in black's home board and move around through black's outer board and white's outer board until all are gathered in white's home board; then white can start to bear them off. Black enters his men in the white home board and moves around in the same manner. Rules of this game are the same as for backgammon; except that you can move any man you want to at any time, whether or not you have men to bring in. In addition, the roll of 1-2 -- Acey-deucey -- is an especially valuable roll. You begin by playing your ace-deuce. Then you play any number four times (in other words, you pick any double you wish). Then you get an extra roll, and if this extra roll is also 1-2 you get the same extras with it.
The game has been strongly solved, meaning that exact equities are available for all 32 million possible positions. Russian backgammon is a variant in which players start with no checkers on the board, and both players move in the same direction to bear off in a common home board. In this variant, doubles are more powerful: four moves are played as in standard backgammon, followed by four moves according to the difference of the dice value from 7, and then the player has another turn.
BACKGAMMON RULES
The objective is to move all of one's own checkers past those of one's opponent and then remove them from the board. The checkers are scattered at first and may be blocked or hit by the opponent. As the playing time for each individual game is short, it is often played in matches, where victory is awarded to the first player to reach a certain number of points.
Setup
Each side of the board has a track of 12 long triangles, called points. The points are considered to be connected across one edge of the board, forming a continuous track in the shape of a horseshoe, and are numbered from 1 to 24. Each player begins with two checkers on his 24-point, three checkers on his 8-point, and five checkers each on his 13-point and his 6-point. The two players move their checkers in opposing directions, each from his own 24-point towards his 1-point. Points 1 through 6 are called the home board or inner board, and points 7 through 12 are called the outer board. The 7-point is referred to as the bar point, and the 13-point as the midpoint.
Movement
To start the game, each player rolls one die, and the player with the higher number moves first using both the numbers shown. Both dice must land completely flat on the right hand side of the game board. The players then alternate turns, rolling two dice at the beginning of each turn. After rolling the dice a player must, if possible, move his checkers according to the number of pips shown on each die. For example, if the player rolls a 6 and a 3 (notated as "6-3"), that player must move one checker six points forward, and another checker three points forward. The same checker may be moved twice as long as the two moves are distinct: six and then three, or three and then six, but not all nine at once.
Doubling cube
To speed up match play and to provide an added dimension for strategy, a doubling cube is normally used. The doubling cube is a six-sided die marked with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64. At the start of each game, the doubling cube is placed in the middle of the board with the number 64 showing; the cube is then said to be "centered on 1". When the cube is centered, and before rolling the dice on his turn, either player may propose that the game be played for twice the current stakes. His opponent must either accepts ("take") the doubled stakes or resign ("drop") the game immediately. If the opponent takes, the cube, showing the doubled stake, is moved to his side of the board. Thereafter, the right to redouble belongs exclusively to the player who last accepted a double.
Whenever a player accepts doubled stakes, the cube is placed with the corresponding power of two facing upward. The game is rarely redoubled beyond four times the original stake, but there is no limit on the number of doubles. Although 64 is the highest number depicted on the doubling cube, the stakes may rise to 128, 256, and so on. In MONEY BETTING ONLINE games, a player is often permitted to "beaver" when offered the cube, doubling the value of the game again, while retaining possession of the cube
Some Gambling money games (backgammon variants) use the "automatic double" rule. If both opponents roll the same opening number, the doubling cube is incremented on each occasion yet remains in the middle of the board, available to either player. When a player decides to double his opponent, the value is then a double of whatever face value is shown. A variant of the doubling cube "beaver" is the "raccoon."
The player who doubled his opponent, seeing him beaver the cube, may in turn than double the stakes once again ("raccoon") as part of that cube phase before any dice are rolled. His opponent retains the doubling cube. E.g. White doubles Black to 2 points, Black accepts then beavers the cube to 4 points; White, confident of a win, raccoons the cube to 8 points, whilst Black retains the cube. Such a move adds greatly to the risk of having to face the doubling cube coming back at 8 times its original value when first doubling the opponent (offered at 2 points, counter offered at 16 points) should the luck of the dice change.
The Jacoby rule allows gammons and backgammons to count for their respective double and triple values only if the cube has already been offered and accepted. This encourages a player with a large lead to double, possibly ending the game, rather than to play it to conclusion hoping for a gammon or backgammon. The Jacoby rule is widely used in money play but is not used in match play.
The Crawford rule is designed to make match play more equitable for the player in the lead. If a player is one point away from winning a match, that player's opponent will always want to double as early as possible in order to catch up. Whether the game is worth one point or two, the trailing player must win to continue the match. To balance the situation, the Crawford rule requires that when a player first reaches a score one point short of winning, neither player may use the doubling cube for the following game, called the Crawford game. After the Crawford game, normal use of the doubling cube resumes. The Crawford rule is used in online poker tournament match play.
