What are some of the key elements to remember when you’re starting off playing backgammon?

I’ve seen a lot of games being played where players are keen to race through the games with little or no regard for playing correctly. The good news is that there are ways to play the game well at a rate of knots. The goal is naturally to move your 15 checkers off the board as quickly as possible. You will want to block or hinder your opponent’s progress while you’re doing this. Of course it’s imperative that you roll the dice and move your pieces off the board as quickly as possible. There is a great deal of skill involved (not so much in rolling the dice but in deciding which pieces to move off the board) so take the time to learn the rules and best playing strategies. Many backgammon players fancy themselves as possessing similar skill levels to those of chess players and this sweeping statement is not without merit. Incidentally the game of backgammon shares the same pool of players as poker players. And it makes lots of sense because they are both games of skill with an element of luck thrown in for good measure.

In order to move forward, we need to understand the game’s rich history

I’ve done lots of reading into this exciting game’s history and I’ve noted that it’s been around since 3,500 B.C. Now that’s ancient by anyone’s admission and it certainly explains why so many players enjoy this game. It is rumored that the ancient Egyptians and Romans first played this game. Since the 1970s however this game has exploded onto the international scene and since the 1990s (the Internet boom) this game now reaches millions of players all over the world.

Just the other day I was enjoying a game of online backgammon. While it certainly lacks the feel and authenticity of rolling a pair of dice across the backgammon board, there are some striking similarities. For starters it’s the same great game and the object of the game is the same – move off your checkers before your opponent. Online backgammon is generally very well presented and superbly animated. The online games feature realistic gaming action and rapid-pace changes.

Each of the spaces on your backgammon board is reflected by way of triangles. These are known as points. But in the game we don’t describe them as points we actually refer to them as numbers. So there are 12 ‘points’ on each player’s side of the board. That’s 24 in total. So you would either have between 1 and 12 or 13 and 24. And the movement in backgammon goes in the opposite direction to that of your opponent.
Let’s set this bad boy up and get gaming

Backgammon boards are quick and easy to set up. There’s very little fuss and your opponent’s side of the board will look identical to yours. This is how we do it:

• 2 checkers placed on point number 24
• 5 checkers placed on point number 13
• 3 checkers placed on point number 8
• 5 checkers placed on point number 6

If you’re wondering who goes first then you should know that decision is determined by a throw of the dice. The competitor who rolls a higher number will commence the game. Everything goes counterclockwise from point 24 to point 1. When you stake cash on these games – which is of course the whole point of it for me – then the currency denomination for each game must be preset. You can however double the stake by ‘turning the doubling cube.’ This will show the number 64. Now the opponent can accept the double or forfeit the game. The last person to accept a double may double next. This allows for a high-stakes increase in the game’s value. When you are playing, please note that the checkers can land on any of the following options: empty points, occupied points by your own checkers and points occupied by single checkers.

Winding the clocks back

Backgammon is a game that’s been around since time immemorial. True, the modern-day version is not quite what our ancestral brothers had in mind when they rolled a couple of stones on a board, but the resemblance is striking. So again, learn all the intricacies of the game, it will take you some time, but once you’ve mastered the art of Backgammon play, it will be well worth it. The most important starting point in this game is learning about the art of priming. These are points on the board that are of strategic importance. Your goal as a player is to occupy these points to build up a ‘Maginot Line’ through which your opponent cannot progress. These primes ensure that your opponent needs to roll high dice numbers in order to bypass your security checkpoints.

Another point I like to stress is that of anchoring. In short this involves dropping anchor on at least 1 point on your opponent’s side of the board.  The benefits to this technique are that this anchor will provide safety for a hit checker to re-enter the board. Of equal significance is hitting, as alluded to just moments ago. Hitting takes place when your Backgammon checker lands on your opponents blot. A single checker is always prone to attack because it is not in an occupied slot. Once you have removed your opponent’s checker he/she must halt progression until the checker has been re-entered. Remember to use this hitting option wisely because careful placement of your chips is key to success in the long-run.