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Backgammon

Free backgammon in your browser, played as a match to 5 points with the doubling cube. Take on the computer at three strengths, or hand the device to whoever is sitting opposite you.

Free
No ads
No account
No download
Works offline
Single player

How do you play?

Pick an opponent - The computer at three strengths, or two people passing one device back and forth. The button switches at any point.
Roll - Two dice, or four moves when they come up the same. Whatever is left to play this turn stays on screen.
Tap from, tap to - Only the points you can actually move from answer a tap. With a checker on the bar it comes in first, so there is nothing else to try.
Undo if you want - Undo walks back a move inside your own turn. Once the dice are handed over it will not help you.
Bear off - When all 15 of your checkers are home you start taking them off, and first one out wins the game.

About this game

Tap a point, then tap where the checker should land. Undo steps back through your own turn as many times as you like, so a move you were only trying out costs nothing. Then you pass the dice. Then it stands.

The rules are whole, and that is the thing almost every free backgammon on the web leaves out. A single game with no cube is not a shorter version of backgammon, it is a different game. This is a match to 5 points: 15 checkers a side across 24 points, a lone checker hit and sent to the bar, and the race won by whoever bears all 15 off first. A gammon counts 2 and a backgammon counts 3, multiplied by whatever the cube says. Both dice must be played whenever some sequence plays both, and when only one of them can be played it has to be the higher one.

A double is four moves.

The cube is the half everybody drops, and it is the half where the game actually lives. Ahead in the race, you offer to double. Your opponent then chooses: take it and play on for twice the stake, or drop and pay the current value straight away. That is the whole cube. It means a game you are losing can still be lost cheaply, which is a skill nothing else on this site teaches. The Crawford rule shuts the cube for exactly one game, the one right after somebody reaches 4 of the 5, so that a trailing player cannot simply double every game to the end of the match.

The whole state saves on the device, match score and cube value included. Stop in the middle of the fifth game and pick it up tomorrow. A phone and a tablet keep two separate matches, because there is no account here to join them with.

What does it teach?

Probability you can hold

Of the 36 rolls two dice can make, how many hit the checker you left out there? Children work that out faster here than on any worksheet.

Deciding without knowing

The dice are not your fault. The choice is. Backgammon separates those two better than any other board game.

Counting ahead

A pip count is ordinary arithmetic with a real answer at the end of it, which is suddenly a reason to add up in your head.

Knowing when to quit

Giving up one game to save the match is a lesson that keeps working long after the board is put away.

Tips

Count pips before you double

The gap between the two counts is the whole decision. Well ahead, double. Well behind, take only if your position has some structure left.

Do not leave blots in range

A lone checker within six points of an enemy checker is hit by roughly a third of the 36 rolls. Sometimes that is worth it, but know you took the risk.

Build points next to each other

Two made points side by side in front of your opponent are worth far more than two scattered ones. A checker on the bar facing a wall is a game already over.

Dropping is a move

There is no prize for losing 4 points instead of 2. In a match to 5, dropping at the right moment wins about as often as playing well does.

What age is it for?

7 to 8

Together, and leave the cube alone at first. Rolling, counting the points and moving is plenty at this age.

9 to 10

Against the easy computer. Hits, the bar and the feel of a race all arrive here.

11 and up

A full match with the cube. Deciding when to double is where the real game starts.

Grown-ups

Hard, a match to 5, Crawford live. This is the backgammon you already know from a cafe table.

Accessibility

Tap a point, then tap a destination. No dragging and no press-and-hold, so an alternative input device and a small hand both manage without effort. Only the points you are allowed to move from answer a tap, which means you cannot attempt an illegal move and be left wondering why nothing happened. There is no clock and no time pressure, and undo lets you try a move and take it back. The dice left to play this turn are shown as numbers, so nothing depends on hearing anything.

Playing together

Pass the device

A match to 5 between the two of you, with no computer in the middle. Same cube, same rules.

Say the count out loud

Before any double, each player says their own pip count. You find out very quickly which of you is counting and which is guessing.

A short match

Play to 3 points instead of 5 when time is short. Crawford still bites, and the whole thing is over in a quarter of an hour.

Talk through a roll

The child rolls, and you ask which moves are even possible before they touch anything. It turns luck into a question.

Common questions

Is the backgammon free?

Yes, with nothing to pay at any point. No purchases, no subscription, and no locked content. Every game on the site is open immediately.

Do I need an app or an account?

No. It all runs in the browser. Nobody asks for a name, nobody asks for an email, and there is no password to remember.

Is there a doubling cube?

There is, and it is on by default. A match to 5 points, doubles, takes and drops, and the Crawford rule closing the cube for one game once a side reaches 4.

Can two people play on one device?

Yes. The button moves between playing the computer and two people handing the device across between turns.

Are the rules complete or simplified?

Complete. The bar, re-entry, bearing off, a double giving four moves, both dice played whenever that is possible and the higher one when only one is. A gammon scores 2 and a backgammon 3.

Can I play people online?

No. The game connects to no server at all, so there are no rooms, no ratings and nobody sending your child a message. You play the computer or the person beside you.

Does it keep the match if I close it?

Yes. The board, the score and the cube value are stored on the device, so you can carry on tomorrow. Clearing your browser storage wipes it.

Can I play with no internet?

Yes. After the first visit the game sits on the device and works with the network off.

What age is it for?

Around seven alongside an adult, and about nine alone against the easy computer. There is no reading in the game, only counting, and the board does most of that for you.

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