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Learn backgammon

Every guide we have written, in the order we would hand them to a friend: the rules, the local names and variants, the strategy path, the dice, and the questions people ask.

By Valentin. Last reviewed .

Start here

Never played, or learned a house version at a relative's table? Read the rules first. Everything else on this page assumes them.

  1. How to play backgammonThe complete rules in one page: the board, the setup, moving with the dice, hitting and the bar, bearing off, the doubling cube and match scoring.
  2. Backgammon setup: where every checker goesHow to set up a backgammon board: the exact starting position, which way each player moves, the ten second check that proves it, and four common mistakes.
  3. Gammons and backgammons: how scoring really worksGammon doubles the game, backgammon triples it, the cube multiplies on top. Plain rules, worked examples, and why gammons move the cube.
  4. Backgammon terms, from anchor to the barA working backgammon glossary: point, pip, blot, anchor, prime, the doubling cube and more, each defined in one or two plain sentences.

Variants and local names

Tavla, tavli, nardy, shesh besh: mostly the same game under other names, plus a few real variants with rules of their own. Orion plays the international rules only, and each guide says so.

  1. Backgammon variants: tavla, nardy, plakoto, fevgaThe main backgammon variants and how they differ: tavla, long nardy, plakoto, fevga, portes, acey-deucey and nackgammon, with the full rules of each.
  2. One Game, Many Names: Tavla, Tavli, Nard, GamaoA map of backgammon names around the world: tavla, tavli, nard, gamão, and shesh besh, with a runbook for reading any table when the dice stay the same.
  3. Tavla rules: how Turkish backgammon is playedTavla is backgammon as played in Türkiye: the same board and moves, usually no doubling cube, a mars counted double. The full rules and the Turkish terms.
  4. Play tavla online, free, with dice you can checkPlay tavla online for free in Orion on iPhone, iPad and Android, against real players, with a mars counted double and every roll checkable afterwards.
  5. Long nardy rules: how to play long nardLong nardy is the most played backgammon cousin from Russia to the Caucasus: no hitting, one direction, a single checker holds a point. The full rules.
  6. Tavli rules: portes, plakoto and fevga explainedTavli is a Greek match of three games played in turn: portes, plakoto and fevga. How each one is played and how a tavli match is scored.
  7. Plakoto rules: the Greek pinning gamePlakoto is the second game of Greek tavli: no hitting, a lone checker is pinned instead, and pinning the mother checker can end the game. The full rules.
  8. Fevga rules: the Greek running gameFevga is the third game of Greek tavli and a cousin of long nardy: both sides race the same way, nothing is hit, one checker holds a point. The full rules.
  9. Acey-deucey rules: the backgammon variant with a bonus rollAcey-deucey starts with every checker off the board, and a 1-2 earns a double of your choice and another turn. The full rules of the Navy's backgammon.
  10. Tavla nasıl oynanır: kurallar, baştan sonaTürkçeTavlanın bütün kuralları: hamle, kırma ve çıtadan giriş, kapı kurma, pul toplama, mars ve hangi durumda oyun biter. Yeni başlayanlar için sırayla.
  11. Tavla dizimi: pullar başlangıçta nasıl dizilirTürkçeTavla tahtası nasıl dizilir: her oyuncunun 15 pulunun tam yeri, hangi yöne gidilir, iç saha neresidir ve en sık yapılan dizim hataları.
  12. Πώς παίζεται το τάβλι: οι κανόνες στις πόρτεςΕλληνικάΟι κανόνες του ταβλιού από την αρχή: ποιος παίζει πρώτος, πώς κινούνται τα πούλια, τι είναι πόρτα και χτύπημα, πώς μαζεύεις και τι μετράει ο μάρσος.
  13. Στήσιμο τάβλι: πού μπαίνουν τα πούλια στα τρία παιχνίδιαΕλληνικάΠώς στήνεται το τάβλι: η αρχική θέση στις πόρτες, στο πλακωτό και στη φέβγα, προς τα πού κινείται ο καθένας, και ο έλεγχος των δεκαπέντε.

The strategy path

In the order we would teach it: how to open, how to read a position, which plan you are in, then the counting and the cube that decide close games.

  1. Backgammon opening rolls: what to play and whyThe standard play for all fifteen backgammon opening rolls: the point makers, the split or slot choices, and the runs, plus the principles behind them.
  2. How to read a backgammon position like a playerThree questions strong players ask every turn: what kind of game is this, where are the blots, what does the pip count say. Learn to read structure.
  3. The four backgammon game plans, and how to spot yoursPriming, the blitz, the holding game and the back game: the four shapes a backgammon game settles into, what each one wants, and how to recognise yours.
  4. The blitz in backgammon: how to attack and whenA blitz is an all-out attack on checkers in your home board. When it works, when it fails, a checklist before you commit, and how to defend against one.
  5. The priming game in backgammon: building a wallA prime is a wall of points the opponent cannot jump. How to build one, how to roll it home, why timing decides prime battles, and the usual mistakes.
  6. The back game in backgammon: when and how to play itA back game holds two deep anchors and waits for a late shot. When it is the right plan, which anchors work, why timing decides it, and how it goes wrong.
  7. Pip counting: the skill that changes everythingA pip count is the total pips needed to bear off every checker. Both sides start at 167. Learn the direct method, the shortcuts, and when to race or hold.
  8. Bearing off in backgammon: rules and techniqueWhen you may start bearing off, the exact rule for a roll higher than your highest checker, what happens if you are hit, and how to avoid wasting pips.
  9. The doubling cube, explained properlyDoubling cube rules in plain language: who may double and when, take or drop, redoubles, the 25 percent take point, and the mistakes beginners make.
  10. Match play and the Crawford rule, explainedWhy serious backgammon is played as matches, what the Crawford rule is and why it exists, what post-Crawford means, and how the score changes the cube.
  11. Seven backgammon mistakes that cost beginners gamesThe seven habits that lose beginner backgammon games, from buried checkers to a silent doubling cube, and the fix for each one.

Fair dice, and how to check them

Every online dice game asks for trust. These guides explain what can actually be proved about the dice, and how to prove it for an Orion game yourself.

  1. Can online backgammon be rigged?Yes, it can be. A closed server can rig dice and results alone cannot prove it. What rigging looks like, and how commit-reveal dice make it detectable.
  2. Do backgammon apps cheat? What players can actually checkMostly no: doubles land one roll in six and memory keeps a biased score. The real question is whether an app can prove its dice. Here is how to check.
  3. How to verify your backgammon dice were fairEvery Orion game commits to its dice with SHA-256 before the first roll. Paste the game ID at orion.arthea.ai/verify and your browser rechecks every roll.
  4. Provably fair vs certified RNG: what protects youCertified RNG asks you to trust an audit. Provably fair hands you a per-game receipt you can check yourself. Here is the difference, in plain terms.
  5. Why a fair game server trusts no one, including usWhat server authoritative means: the server holds the board, validates every move at source, and commit-reveal dice keep even the house honest.
  6. Check a gamePaste a game ID and your browser recomputes every roll from the revealed seed and checks it against the fingerprint published before the first roll. No account needed.

Questions people ask

Short, honest answers to the questions people type into a search box about the game.

  1. Is backgammon luck or skill? Both, and that is the pointBoth. One game is noisy, but across many games skill dominates: better players measurably win more. Why dice make backgammon better than pure-skill games.
  2. Is backgammon gambling?Backgammon is a skill game played with dice, and it is only gambling when money is staked on it. What that distinction means, and how Orion is arranged.
  3. Is backgammon good for your brain? An honest answerWhat the research on board games and cognition actually supports, what it does not, and which specific mental skills backgammon genuinely exercises.
  4. How long does a backgammon game take?A casual game takes 5 to 10 minutes, a match to 5 or 7 points 20 to 45. What stretches games, what shortens them, and why the loop suits a phone.
  5. Backgammon vs chess: which should you learn?Chess is harder to study, backgammon is harder to judge. We compare difficulty, learning curves, upsets, the cube, and which game fits your life.
  6. Teaching a child backgammon, in the right orderWhich rules to leave out at first, the order to add them back, what age it clicks, and how to handle the losing so a child wants a second game.

Culture and history

Where the game comes from, and how it is played at the tables that kept it alive.

  1. Five thousand years of backgammon, brieflyFrom the Royal Game of Ur around 2600 BCE to the 1920s doubling cube: backgammon's real history, honestly dated, and what never changed.
  2. The cafe tradition: where backgammon livesBackgammon lives in cafes: tavla in Turkiye, tawla in the Levant, shesh besh across the region. Tea, kibitzers, and boards handed down explain why.
  3. Backgammon etiquette, at the table and onlineThe unwritten rules of backgammon: which side to roll on, how to offer the cube, how to concede, and how the same manners translate online.

Choosing an app, and playing in Orion

How to judge any backgammon app, an honest comparison that includes ours, and how Orion's weekly tournament and ranked seasons work.

  1. The best backgammon apps in 2026, comparedNine backgammon apps compared on facts you can check: platforms, price, ads, real money, dice fairness, analysis tools, variants and languages.
  2. What to check before you install a backgammon appNine things worth checking in any online backgammon app: dice fairness, what happens when you run out, ads, real money, matchmaking and offline play.
  3. How Orion's Weekend Masters backgammon tournament worksEvery weekend, Friday 16:00 UTC to Monday 00:00 UTC, Orion runs the Masters: live standings, a guaranteed gem prize pool and a ceremony for winners.
  4. Seasons, leagues and trophies: how the ladder worksTrophies come from rated play only. Everyone starts at zero and climbs ten leagues, Driftwood to Orion, in quarterly seasons. Nothing you buy helps.

Looking for what changed in the game rather than how to play it? The dated notes are in the news.