Many of us were introduced to Backgammon in a family environment by an older relative when we were little kids. However, if you have stopped playing ever since, chances are you forgot the basic instructions to play Backgammon long ago. Well, let us review them briefly. To begging, the checkers must be placed on the board as follows: two checkers in the 24 point (one of the 24 triangular “boxes” were the checker are placed), five in 13 points, three in the 8 point, and five in the 6 point.

To start the game, each player must throw one of his dice. The player with the higher roll begins the game. If there is a tie, an additional throw must be made to break it. From then on, each of the players will play in alternative turns moving his/her checkers as many points as the roll of the dice indicates it in a counter-clock wise manner. If the dice show the same number (a double), then the player must move the checkers of his choice four times that number.

If the roll indicates a point on which a single checker (a blot) of the opponent stands, it can be hit and send to the bar. For a hit checker to enter the board, the player must roll a dice equal to an available point in the opponent’s home-board; otherwise, the checker will remain on the bar and no further moves can be made.
Once all the checkers arrive in the home-board, the player can commence the bear off by retrieving those checkers standing on the points indicated by the roll of the dice. The first player to achieve this goal is the winner.

I hope these basic instructions to play Backgammon have refreshed your memory. Good luck!