Backgammon Rules: Long and Short Backgammon

What backgammon is

Backgammon is a race game for two players. Dice decide how far you can move, and you decide which checkers move. Both versions have the same goal. They differ in the starting position and in whether checkers can be hit.

Short backgammon is standard backgammon, also called short nardy. Long backgammon is also called long nardy. We offer both.

Players and equipment

Two players sit at a board with 24 triangles called points. Each player has 15 checkers (yours are light, your opponent is red) and rolls two dice.

There is no timer on each move. If you make no move for 5 minutes in a row, you lose, and leaving the table during a game is also a loss.

To decide who starts, each player rolls one die. The higher roll goes first and plays both dice. If the dice are equal, you roll again.

Goal

Bring all 15 of your checkers into your home board, then take them off the board. This is called bearing off. The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins, and a win is a win: there is no doubling cube and no extra value for a big margin.

Rules that are the same in both versions

1. 1Roll the diceOn your turn you roll two dice. Each die is a separate move of one checker forward by as many points as the die shows.
2. 2Play both dice if you canYou must play both dice when it is possible. If only one can be played, you play the larger one when you can. If there is no move at all, the turn passes to your opponent.
3. 3Doubles give four movesIf both dice show the same number, these are doubles. You play that number four times.
4. 4Choose your checkersPlay the two dice with one checker or with two.
5. 5Bring everything homeYour home is the last six points of your route. Bearing off starts only when all 15 checkers are there.
6. 6Bear offA die equal to the distance of a checker from the exit takes that checker off. A higher die takes off the checker farthest from the exit, but only if there are none behind it. You may also move a checker inside your home board instead.

Long backgammon rules (long nardy)

In long backgammon all 15 checkers of each player start on the head, one corner point. Both players travel the same circuit counterclockwise, from the head in the top-right corner to the home in the bottom right. The points are numbered 1-24 along your route, and your home is points 19-24.

• Head rule. You can take only one checker off the head per turn. On your first turn you may take two with doubles 3-3, 4-4 or 6-6.
• No hitting. You cannot hit an opposing checker. A point with even one opposing checker is closed to you, and you cannot land on it.
• No six-point wall. You cannot place your checkers on six points in a row unless an opposing checker has already moved past that wall. Five points in a row are allowed.

Short backgammon rules (standard)

In short backgammon the checkers start in the standard setup. You have 2 checkers on point 24, 5 on point 13, 3 on point 8 and 5 on point 6. Your opponent has the same setup, mirrored. You move from point 24 down to point 1, and your home is points 1-6.

• Blocked points. Two or more checkers of one color on a point block it. Your opponent cannot land there.
• Blot and hit. A single checker is a blot. If you land on an opposing blot, you hit it. The hit checker goes to the bar, the strip in the middle of the board.
• Entering from the bar. While you have a checker on the bar you can make no other move. It enters your opponent's home: a 1 puts it on point 24, a 2 on point 23, up to a 6 on point 19. If that point is blocked, the die is lost. If no die lets you enter, your turn passes.

Long vs short backgammon at a glance

More on choosing a version is in long vs short backgammon.

Worked examples

Beginner strategy tips

1. Keep checkers in pairs in short backgammon. A single checker can be hit, and a hit checker loses all the distance it has traveled.
2. Think before you hit. Your hitting checker often stands alone afterward and can be hit back.
3. Do not leave a lone checker far behind in long backgammon. You cannot hit, so your opponent can build a block of neighboring points that you cannot pass.
4. Plan the second die. Under the head rule, keep a move that is not from the head, or the second die is lost.
5. Check every die in the bear-off. An exact die takes a checker off, and a higher die works only when no checker is behind.

Common mistakes

• Leaving single checkers open to a hit in short backgammon.
• Forgetting that a checker on the bar must enter before any other move.
• Trying to take two checkers off the head, or to build six points in a row, in long backgammon. The game does not allow it.
• Leaving the table during a game. It counts as a loss.