Backgammon Rules: The Complete Guide

Backgammon is a two-player race game played with 15 checkers each and a pair of dice. This guide covers every rule from setup to scoring, and explains how Turkish tavla — the variant played on this site — differs from Western backgammon. Once you know the rules, you can play backgammon free online right away.

How is the board set up?

The board has 24 triangular points, and each player starts with a fixed arrangement: 2 checkers on the 24-point, 5 on the 13-point, 3 on the 8-point and 5 on the 6-point. The two setups mirror each other, and the checkers travel in opposite directions.

Your last six points (1–6) are your home board; all 15 checkers must reach it before you can bear off. The ridge in the middle of the board is the bar, where hit checkers wait to re-enter.

Who starts, and how are the dice used?

Each player rolls one die, and the higher roll goes first. On PlayTavla, the starting player plays the combined opening roll — the two dice both players threw. Ties are re-rolled. From then on, players alternate turns rolling both dice.

The two dice are two separate moves: a 6-3 lets you move one checker six points and another (or the same) checker three. If you move one checker with both numbers, each intermediate landing point must be legal.

How do checkers move?

1. Checkers only move forward, toward your own home board — never backward.
2. You cannot land on a point held by two or more opposing checkers (a made point).
3. Doubles are played four times: 4-4 means four moves of 4.
4. If any legal move exists you must play it. If only one die can be played, play the higher one when possible; if neither can be played, you forfeit the turn.

How do hitting and entering from the bar work?

A lone checker on a point is a blot. If your checker lands on it, the blot is hit and placed on the bar. A player with a checker on the bar can make no other move until it re-enters, which happens in the opponent's home board on a point matching one of the rolled dice — provided that point is open. If the opponent holds all six entry points, the player simply loses the turn.

How does bearing off work?

Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you bear off by removing a checker from the point matching each die. Rolling a 5 removes a checker from your 5-point. If that point is empty and no checkers remain on higher points, you bear off from the highest occupied point. If a checker is hit during bear-off, you must re-enter it and bring it home before removing any more.

How is the game scored, and how does Turkish tavla differ?

The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins 1 point. In Turkish tavla, winning before the opponent bears off a single checker is called mars — the equivalent of a gammon — and scores 2 points. Two Western features are absent: there is no doubling cube, and there is no triple-value backgammon win. Matches are typically played to 5 points.

Where to go next

For a gentler step-by-step walkthrough, read how to play backgammon; for vocabulary like blot, anchor and pip, see the backgammon terms glossary. Bu sayfanın Türkçesi: tavla kuralları.