Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world — a 5,000-year-old race of dice and nerve for two players. This free online backgammon game runs right in your browser with no downloads, no plug-ins and no sign-up. You control fifteen checkers travelling around a track of twenty-four points, rolling the dice to bring them home and bear them off before your opponent can.
You play against a computer opponent with three difficulty levels: Easy plays loose and random, Medium balances safety and aggression, and Hard hunts your blots and builds strong points. A running pip count keeps you aware of exactly who is ahead in the race.
Backgammon's family tree stretches back some five millennia. Boards for the Royal Game of Ur were buried with Sumerian nobility around 2600 BC, and the Romans played a close cousin called ludus duodecim scriptorum — the 'twelve-lined game' — across their empire. In medieval Europe the game was known as 'tables' and was so addictive that it was banned more than once by church and crown alike.
The name backgammon appears in English around the 1640s, most likely from 'back' and 'game' — a nod to the way hit checkers are sent back to the start. The single biggest modern change came in 1920s New York, where the doubling cube was invented to raise the stakes mid-game. That one idea turned backgammon from a simple race into a game of risk and timing, though here you can enjoy the pure racing game with nothing on the line.
The objective is a race: move all fifteen of your checkers into your home board — the final quarter of the track — and then bear them off the board entirely. The first player to remove all fifteen checkers wins. You roll two dice and move checkers by those amounts, either as two separate moves or combined onto one checker, always travelling toward home.
The tactical heart of the game is the blot. A single checker alone on a point is a blot, and if your opponent lands on it your checker is hit and sent to the bar in the middle of the board — from where it must re-enter in the enemy's home before you can do anything else. Two or more checkers on a point make it a made point that the opponent cannot land on. Rolling doubles lets you play that number four times instead of twice.
Click 'Roll dice' to roll. Tap one of your checkers to select it — legal destination points glow green. Click a glowing point to move there, or click the highlighted bear-off tray to remove a checker once all of yours are home. If you have a checker on the bar you must re-enter it first. Doubles give you four moves.
Backgammon rewards players who blend the arithmetic of the race with the judgement to know when to fight. These are the ideas that separate winners from lucky rollers.
Watch the pip count. The pip count is the total distance all your checkers still have to travel. If you are clearly ahead, simplify: race for home and avoid contact. If you are behind, do the opposite — keep checkers back, stay in contact and play for a hit that can swing the whole game.
Make points, especially your bar point and home board. Building a wall of made points in your home board is how you win. Every point you make there is a square your opponent cannot re-enter on after being hit, and a full six-point home board leaves a hit checker stuck on the bar completely.
Do not leave blots within range. A blot is only safe if the opponent cannot reach it. A checker can be hit by a single die (1-6) far more easily than by a combination, so blots six or fewer pips from an enemy checker are the most dangerous. When you must leave a blot, leave it where a hit costs your opponent the least.
Keep an anchor when you are behind. An anchor — a made point in your opponent's home board — is a safe base that can never be attacked, and it gives you a shot at their checkers as they head home. The 'golden' anchor on their five-point is one of the most valuable defensive assets in the game.
Build a prime to trap checkers. A prime is a run of consecutive made points. Six made points in a row form a full prime that no checker can jump, trapping any enemy checker behind it until you choose to release. Even a four- or five-point prime in front of a checker you have hit is often game-winning.
Play the doubling cube with the score in mind. In cube games, offer a double when you are a clear favourite but the game is not yet decided, and take a double when you still have roughly a one-in-four chance or better. Knowing when to drop a hopeless game saves points over a long match.
Against the computer, use Easy to rehearse safe moves and pip counting, then move up to Hard, which actively hunts blots and builds points — exactly the pressure that teaches you to play safe and prime effectively.
How do you win at backgammon?
Race all fifteen of your checkers around the board into your home board, then bear them all off before your opponent does. Hitting enemy blots and building points to block their return are the main ways to pull ahead in the race.
What happens when a checker is hit?
A hit checker goes to the bar in the middle of the board. Its owner must re-enter it in the opponent's home board on the next roll before making any other move — and if that home board is heavily blocked, the checker can be stuck for several turns.
What is the doubling cube?
It is a marker used in wagered play to double the stakes. A player who feels ahead can offer to double before rolling; the opponent either accepts and plays on for higher stakes or declines and forfeits the current stake. This browser version lets you enjoy the racing game without it.
Is this backgammon game free?
Yes — play unlimited matches free in your browser against three AI difficulty levels, with no download or sign-up.
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