Use and Care Manual

Rules of Backgammon
Setup
Backgammon is a game for two players, played on a board consisting of twenty-
four narrow triangles called points. The triangles alternate in color and are
grouped into four quadrants of six triangles each. The quadrants are referred to
as a player's home board and outer board, and the opponent's home board and
outer board. The home and outer boards are separated from each other by a ridge
down the center of the board called the bar.
Figure 1. A board
with the checkers in
their initial position.
An alternate
arrangement is the
reverse of the one
shown here, with the
home board on the left
and the outer board on
the right.
The points are numbered for either player starting in that player's home board.
The outermost point is the twenty-four point, which is also the opponent's one
point. Each player has fifteen checkers of his own color. The initial arrangement
of checkers is: two on each player's twenty-four point, five on each player's
thirteen point, three on each player's eight point, and five on each player's six
point.
Both players have their own pair of dice and a dice cup used for
shaking. A doubling cube, with the numerals 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and
64 on its faces, is used to keep track of the current stake of the
game.
Object of the Game
The object of the game is move all your checkers into your own home board and
then bear them off. The first player to bear off all of their checkers wins the
game.