Backgammon

Backgammon board showing starting positions

Backgammon is a two player game where your goal is to move 15 pawns over to their nest before the opponent.

How to move in Backgammon
In order to determine your moves you roll two dice and the points shown let you know how many steps you are allowed to take. A player can choose to move a pawn either according to both dice or you can choose to move two pieces, one for each die. If the roll is a double number (1-1, 2-2) you make the moves twice and can move up to four pawns.

File:Bg-movement.svgThe pawn must be able to land before you continue to move and may not add 2 and 3 to a 5. A pawn may only land on empty spaces, spaces containing your own color or on a space containing only one enemy pawn. If you land on a a enemy pawn you place it on the barrier separating the two playing fields and have to be able to get it back into play again from the before you may move another pawn.

Once you have all your pawns on the last quadrant you may start to enter the nest. The pawns in the quadrant must move according to the dice if able. So if you roll a 6 – 2 pawns on triangle 6 and two may move out. If you have no pawn on triangle 6 you may move another pawn closer to the nest into it.

Gameplay
The game is simple for beginners but once you figure out the tactics and statistics of the game it becomes very fun and engaging.

Target audience
This game targets a wide audience. Children as young as 6 can easily understand the simple rules even though they might have a harder time figuring out how to actually play in order to win against an adult. Adults can play competitive games against each other and there is even a way to play the games with stakes and play over several games in order to determine a winner.

If you like the game and want to know more or just find someone to play against there are Backgammon clubs to be found in most major cities and competitions are held regularly.

Where to find it
Backgammon can be found in almost any store selling traditional board games and the quality of the board and pieces determine the price range.

Find the game on Amazon for European customers: 15″ Backgammon Set

Find the game on Amazon for US customers: Classic Brown & White Backgammon Set

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