9
votes
In backgammon, why do I lose if I decline an offer of doubles?
Declining an offer of doubles is an automatic loss; that’s one of the key points of how the doubling cube works.
A player only makes an offer to double the stakes of the game when they feel they are ...
- 74k
9
votes
Can a single checker make two hits?
There is no rule against a single checker hitting two blots in one turn. At backgammonrules.net (emphasis mine):
Hitting blots
If a player moves to a point occupied by only one of his opponent's ...
- 7,785
7
votes
Backgammon stacking rule
Stacking pieces on the same point is not necessary unless it would otherwise be unclear where those pieces are meant to be. There are no rules about how you place pieces on a point; it is only common ...
- 3,521
6
votes
Accepted
Backgammon bearing off rules
Either choice is legal. Here's a reference:
Q: Can I play low number first when bearing off?
Yes, you may play your numbers in either order, as long as each number is played legally.
- 11.1k
5
votes
Accepted
Can you play your numbers in Backgammon in a way to block one of them?
A basic rule of backgammon is that you must play in a way that maximises the use of your pips.
If you have a board that can use both 3 and 6, you must choose such move over any move that only uses 3 ...
- 3,521
5
votes
Accepted
Was Backgammon played in ancient Rome?
While old, we can pretty conclusively say that Backgammon itself was never played by the Romans. Backgammon is a relatively recent iteration belonging to the Tables family of games, the oldest within ...
- 5,027
5
votes
Accepted
Does an official version of the rules of backgammon exist anywhere?
The simple answer is that there is no "official" codified set of rules to Backgammon. At it's core this is because no single organisation can claim ownership of the game, and therefore no ...
- 5,027
5
votes
In backgammon, why do I lose if I decline an offer of doubles?
In addition to the other answer and great comments, there is another benefit to the doubling rules.
If the game continued after declining a double, then EVERY game would have to be played until the ...
- 278
5
votes
Is there a confirmation that no backgammon game will last forever?
It has been proven that backgammon terminates with probability 1:
https://www.bkgm.com/rgb/rgb.cgi?view+1423
Essentially, in any legal position there is at least one finite sequence of dice rolls in ...
- 533
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a confirmation that no backgammon game will last forever?
Backgammon doesn't just depend on the player's decisions, but also on the randomness of the dice.
This is different from Chess. In Chess, some games end as a draw because of the threefold repetition ...
- 243
3
votes
Backgammon like game - for which I can't find the English name
Mahbusa is the name of this Backgammon variant, and best known under this name.
Not widely used are the terms "Six-Point Backgammon" or "Short Backgammon", but I would not rely on ...
- 86
3
votes
Backgammon board for 3 players
It looks like these have already been done, and done well:
Trigammon
Quadgammon
The Quadgammon board is very cleverly designed!
- 159
3
votes
Was Backgammon played in ancient Rome?
While it's less likely that modern-looking backgammon sets existed in that time frame, the game of backgammon has its origins much earlier -- it's believed to be as much as 5000 years old, likely the ...
- 1,687
3
votes
Backgammon best strategy for clearing my home
The logic of finding the “general rule” in these situations is flawed and will lead to potential mistakes. There are positions where you have to move the highest or the lowest number and need to be ...
- 141
3
votes
Backgammon best strategy for clearing my home
Mathematically speaking, you should minimise the average number of additional dice needed to bear off all checkers. This implies a minimisation of the number of dropped rolls - rolls that do not ...
- 3,521
3
votes
Backgammon: Jacoby rule with doubling cube?
The rule (as in the link):
A rule popular in money play which says that gammons and backgammons count only as a single game if neither player has offered a double during the game.
Probably the ...
- 677
3
votes
In Backgammon, when can the dice be doubled?
I think you are confusing two uses of the word double. If you roll doubles (e.g both dice show 3) you move not two but four counters three spaces ('Movement, 3' here).
You can also use the doubling ...
- 2,608
2
votes
backgammon scenario
No, as per the official backgammon rules of the US Backgammon Federation you cannot move in this instance, and your turn is over.
If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, the ...
- 11.9k
2
votes
Accepted
How do I Make this Backgammon-Spinoff more Level and Fair?
The easiest rule change would be to disallow hits made in a home board. Extending a nuance from this rule, would be to disallow hits made in a home board
unless they come from a point on the outer ...
- 3,521
2
votes
Backgammon best strategy for clearing my home
For small numbers of chequers, the relative odds can be calculated exactly as described by other answers. For cases of too many chequers to perform calculations in your head, the following heuristic ...
- 11.9k
2
votes
Was Backgammon played in ancient Rome?
A game with the same board and pieces, Tabula, was played in Rome in the fifth century. It derived from the "Game of Twelve Lines", played around year 0.
From Wikipedia:
Tάβλι (Tavli), i.e. ...
- 10.8k
2
votes
Accepted
Alternate layouts for Backgammon: who's studied this?
Many variants described at Backgammon Variants:
The most famous variant, to my limited knowledge, is Nackgammon.
Nackgammon requires more skill than regular backgammon. The games tend
to be quite a ...
- 4,105
2
votes
Backgammon move notation - Is there an official, rigorous specification?
Paul Magriel's notation system originally appeared in his 1976 book Backgammon, and is mostly just a codification of notations systems that existed at the time.
This could be considered the "official" ...
- 5,027
1
vote
Is there a confirmation that no backgammon game will last forever?
It is theoretically possible for a game of backgammon to last forever. Imagine a scenario where both players have a checker on the bar, and they both dance on their turn. While this scenario could ...
1
vote
Alternate layouts for Backgammon: who's studied this?
The following is an attempt to address preoccupations described in the first paragraph of the contributor's question.
Number of pieces
«A race game is one in which players start with one or more ...
- 3,120
1
vote
Alternate layouts for Backgammon: who's studied this?
According to Mark Driver's article on the History of Backgammon, the earliest versions had the pieces all start off the board and enter based on the throws of the dice (like pachisi). Back then it ...
- 10.8k
1
vote
Accepted
When to leave the 20 point?
The question is more generally about when to leave pieces in your opponents home board. If those pieces are safe, you can theoretically leave them there until all of your other pieces are in your ...
- 17.9k
1
vote
Proper Opening Moves
In The Backgammon Book, World Champions Oswald Jacoby and John Crawford recommend with both 6-2 and 6-3 moving one runner to the bar point and one man from the 12-point into your own outer table; ...
- 11.9k
1
vote
When would you "slot" points in backgammon?
Generally speaking, you have to slot 5 pt with your 62 if you are trying for a gammon. Example would be a Crawford game at a score of 2-away, 1-away (or 6 to 5 in a 7-point match).
If we think ...
- 141
1
vote
Backgammon Statistics To Know
You should always accept a double if your winning expectation from the current situation is 25% or more. You should never accept a double when you have less.
- 3,521
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