How to play Backgammon

The goal

Race all 15 of your checkers around the board and off before the computer does.

Moving

Roll two dice and move a checker that many points for each one, always toward your home board. A double plays that number four times.

Tap a checker to raise it and see where each die can take it, then tap a point to move there. Landing on a point with one of the computer’s checkers sends it to the bar; it must re-enter before making any other move.

Bearing off

Once every checker you have left is in your home board, start bearing them off. Undo is free until you tap Done, which commits the turn.

The doubling cube

Either side may offer to double the stakes before rolling. The other side takes it and plays on, or passes and gives up the game at the current value.

Honest dice

Every roll comes from a seed fixed before the game starts. The Dice screen shows every roll so far, and you can replay a game with the same dice.

Long Nardy

With friends. Both sides run the same way and nothing is hit: one checker holds a point. Only one checker leaves the head each turn. A win counts 1 point, 2 if the loser has borne off none.

Tavli

With friends. One match to 5 or 7 points, three games in turn: Portes is backgammon without the cube, Plakoto pins a lone checker you land on, Fevga runs the same way with no hitting. Pinning the last start checker of the other side wins 2 points; any other win is 1.

Hints

Show a move suggests the strongest play once per game, with its notation.