Backgammon

The single most common early mistake is leaving a checker standing alone on a point it did not need to. A blot anywhere the computer's checkers can reach is a checker that might be sent all the way back to the beginning, undoing several turns of progress in one roll. Before moving, it is worth glancing at whether your move leaves a lone checker within six points of one of the computer's, since that is the reach of a single die.

The second is forgetting that both dice, or all four on a double, must be played whenever a legal way exists to play them — you cannot choose to use only the die you like. The game enforces this for you: it will only let your turn pass once no legal move remains for whatever you have left to play. Between those two dice, order sometimes matters, since a move might only be legal in one order rather than the other, so if a checker will not go where you expect, try starting with your other die first.

The third is rushing bearing off. It feels safe once every checker is home, and mostly it is, but leaving a gap behind an advancing checker can still expose a blot to a checker your opponent has yet to bring home. The Hint button will point this out if it is the strongest move available, and explains why, rather than leaving you to spot it alone.

Nothing here is dragged. The single biggest difficulty with backgammon on a touchscreen is picking a checker up and carrying it precisely onto a small triangle further down the board, so this version replaces that entirely: tap the checker, then tap where it is going. Every legal destination is shown before you commit to anything, so there is no way to attempt an illegal move by accident, and no penalty for changing your mind before you tap.

There is no timer anywhere on the page, and the computer takes a brief, visible pause before each of its own moves so you can follow what it did and why, rather than the board changing instantly. Hint is unlimited and free, and it always explains its reasoning in a full sentence: that a move hits an exposed checker, makes a safe point, rescues a blot of your own, or simply bears a checker off, rather than just filling the move in for you. Undo steps back through your own turn as many times as you like, so a move you regret costs nothing to take back before you hand the turn over.

The board is wider than a phone screen by design, since a backgammon board genuinely needs that much room to stay readable — twenty-four points, the bar and two bear-off trays all at once. Rather than shrink everything down to an uncomfortable size, the board scrolls sideways inside its own frame while the rest of the page stays put, and the point you are looking at is always labelled by its number for anyone using a screen reader.

The computer opponent plays a plain, sensible game: it looks for a hit first, then a chance to make a safe point of its own, and otherwise avoids leaving a blot where it can help it. It will never attempt a move that is not allowed, and it never uses a doubling cube or plays for gammon points, because this is meant to be one calm, complete game rather than a tournament match. When either side bears off the last of their fifteen checkers, that game ends cleanly and a fresh one is one tap away with New game.

How do I move a checker without dragging it?

Tap the checker you want to move. Every point it is legally allowed to reach lights up in a second colour. Tap one of those lit points and the checker moves there. Changed your mind? Tap the same checker again to clear the selection and choose differently.

What happens when one of my checkers gets hit?

A checker standing alone on a point is called a blot, and landing an opposing checker on it sends it to the bar in the middle of the board. Before you can make any other move, you must re-enter that checker into the board using one of your dice — tap the bar and its legal entry points light up the same way any other checker's do.

Do I have to use both dice every turn?

Yes, whenever a legal move exists for them. Rolling doubles gives you four moves of that number instead of two. If neither die can be played at all, the game says so plainly and your turn passes to the computer without costing you anything.

Is there a limit on hints, or a timer I need to beat?

No to both. Hint is free and unlimited: press it and it names one strong move and explains the reasoning behind it, such as hitting an exposed checker or making a safe point, rather than simply telling you the answer. Nothing on this page is timed, and the computer never rushes you.

Can I take a move back if I regret it?

Yes, within your own turn. Undo steps back one checker move at a time, returning the die you used, for as many moves as you have made since your last roll. Once your turn is handed to the computer, that turn is set — the same as it would be across a real board.

Backgammon belongs to a family of race games played with dice that goes back thousands of years, and games close to it turn up across the ancient Mediterranean. The Romans played one called tabula, with a board and a race of pieces that looks very close to backgammon as it is played now, and versions of the game carried on under different names in different countries through the centuries that followed.

The English name backgammon is first recorded in the seventeenth century, though where the word itself comes from is not settled, with different accounts pointing to different old roots for its two halves. The doubling cube, which lets either player raise the stakes mid-game, was added by American players in the 1920s and turned backgammon into the sharper contest most people play today. Try it alongside our other board games.