How to set up a backgammon board
Each player starts with 15 checkers spread over four points. Here is exactly where they go, which way each player moves, and the mistakes that are easiest to make.
4-minute read · Beginner
The board
A backgammon board has 24 long triangles called points, arranged in four quarters of six. The ridge down the middle that splits the board in two is called the bar.
Each player numbers the points from their own side, 1 to 24. Your home board is your points 1 to 6, and your outer board is points 7 to 12. Points 13 to 24 are your opponent's half: their outer board, then their home board. Because both players count from their own side, your 24-point is your opponent's 1-point, and your 13-point is their 12-point.
Where your 15 checkers go
Put two checkers on your 24-point, five on your 13-point, three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. That is 2, 5, 3 and 5: fifteen in all. The two on the 24-point are your back checkers, and the 13-point is called the mid-point.
Your opponent sets out their checkers in exactly the same way from their side, so every one of your points has a mirror point for them. On OneGammon you play the light checkers and the board is set up for you.
What to play with your first roll
Which way you move
You move your checkers from your 24-point towards your 1-point, round the board and into your home board, and then off the board altogether. Your opponent moves the opposite way round. On OneGammon your home board is at the bottom right, so your checkers travel from the top right, along the top, down the left and along the bottom.
On a real board the two home boards face each other across the table, on the same end. It doesn't matter whether that end is on your left or your right, as long as both players agree.
The dice and the cube
Each player has a pair of dice and, on a real board, a cup to shake them in. The doubling cube starts on the bar showing 64, which by convention means the stakes are 1: no one has doubled yet.
The game begins with each player rolling a single die. The higher number moves first, playing both dice. If the dice are the same, both players roll again, so the first move is never a double.
Mistakes to avoid
Swapping the 8-point and the 6-point is the most common slip: three checkers go on the 8-point and five on the 6-point, not the other way round. Another is setting one player's checkers up as a mirror image, so both players end up moving the same way round. Check that each player's home board holds their five checkers on the 6-point and nothing else.
A quick test that everything is right: each player's pip count, the total distance their checkers have to travel, should be exactly 167 at the start.
Put it into practice: play a game against the computer, free and with no sign-up.
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