Backgammon

The most expensive Backgammon board in the world is from the Charles Hollander Collection. It has over 2000 carats of diamonds and 6kg of gold. That board is beautiful, however, Backgammon is the same no matter what board you play on.

If you would like to have a premium Backgammon board there are plenty to choose from that have a reasonable price tag. A high-quality board is typically crafted by hand from fine wood and features beautiful inlays.

Perhaps you would rather have an antique Backgammon board. The history of modern Backgammon goes back a long way and there are plenty of antique boards available. You can almost feel the history every time you play a game on an antique Backgammon board.

Beautiful, expensive boards are nice, especially for display. But, for everyday use most people prefer a standard Backgammon board. No fancy frills, just quality construction to stand up to lots of game playing.

The last type of boards are travel Backgammon boards. These are made to pack and go -to be ready for a game whenever you are. Travel boards are nice to carry in your car and whenever you go on holiday, you never know when you'll be stuck and need something to do.

Backgammon is game for two players who sit at a Backgammon board facing each other. The board consists of 24 triangles called "points". Each player has a designated color and fifteen chips of their color on the board starting at a pre-set location. The goal is to get all of your chips into your "home board" and then off the board. The first player to get all of their chips off the board wins the game.

The game is started by both players rolling one die. The player with the highest roll gets to move first by using the numbers shows on the two dice just rolled. In case of a tie both players roll again. After this each player takes turn rolling two dice and moving according to the numbers shown on the dice. The numbers on the dice are used separately, not together. If the roll is a 6 and a 3 then a player can move one chip 6 spots and another chip 3 spots or the same chip 6 then 3 spots. If doubles are rolled then the player gets to use the roll twice.

When moving chips a player can only move forward. Additionally, a chip can only land on a point that has no chips, one or more chips of the same color, or a single chip of the other color. A chip can not land on a point that has two or more chips of the other color. If a point has a single chip of the other color it is called a "blot" and if that point is landed on then the opposing chip is "hit" and moved onto the bar. When a player has chips on the bar they must get them back onto the board with a valid roll before making any other moves. Before moving chips off the board "bearing off" a player must have all of their chips in their home board. When bearing off the chips furthest away must be moved off the board first.

Backgammon is usually played as a game of stakes, with an agreed upon stake for every point. The value for wining a game starts at one point. The doubling cube starts free for any player to use. At the start of a turn a player can offer to double the stakes, if the opposing player accepts then the cube is turned to 2 and the accepting player now has control of the cube. That player can choose to offer to double the stakes again at the start of any turn. If the other player accepts then they now control the cube. If a player ever declines an offer to double then they immediately loose the game.

For more details visit the page How to Play Backgammon. To lean even more visit Backgammon Etiquette. And, go to Backgammon History to learn about Backgammons ancient history.