Online Backgammon: Play by the Rules
Backgammon: An Introduction
Backgammon is a board game that involves two players who play using checkers. The objective of the game is for one of the two players to get all his checkers off the board after negotiating the numerous obstacles along the way. The winner of a game of backgammon is effectively the first player among the two to get all his checkers off the board. In a way, backgammon is a bit like Monopoly. Nowadays, the advent of the Internet has ensured the availability of online backgammon games, which are in principle the same as the regular backgammon games.
The Basics of Playing Backgammon
You can start playing online backgammon once the board is set up. A backgammon board, be it the traditional board or an online version, has a pathway of 12 triangles or points. The points are numbered 1 through 24 and are connected from one end of the board to the opposite end. While playing the game, you must move your checkers through the points on the board in a horseshoe pattern and try to be the first of the two to reach the finish line.
Aside from the board, other tools backgammon players, online and offline, use to play the game are the dice, the checkers, and the doubling cube. The doubling cube is marked on six sides with numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, and 64. Players take turns rolling the dice prior to the start of the game to determine who gets the first throw. The player with the higher number in the trial throw starts the game. According to the number that the throw of the dice yields, a player also gets to move his checkers.
Basic Online Backgammon Rules
You can learn about backgammon rules by browsing online gaming sites and joining online backgammon forums. You can also look around for books on the game for more tips and strategies to improve your game. Like poker, backgammon is also a game of wits and a sport that demands adherence to the rules. The following are the basic rules associated with online backgammon:
1. The rule that commonly applies in free online backgammon games is the Crawford rule. It stipulates that there will be no doubling when a player needs a single point to win the match. For instance, if a player is one point short of a win in a best-of-seven match, he is not allowed to double the dice. While this may seem unfair to the player, it works to the advantage of his opponent.
2. The rule applicable to online backgammon games for cash is the Jacoby rule. Prior to the game, both players agree that back gammons and gammons will qualify for just one point if doubling did not take place during the game.
3. If a player has been doubled, he is given the chance to redouble. The player who beavers or accepts the redoubling takes possession of the dice.
4. Players can agree to double the stakes anytime during a game prior to rolling the dice. Players are not allowed to double during the first round.
5. In online backgammon, a player can demand, when his turn comes and before he rolls the dice, that the stakes be raised. If the other player refuses, he has to quit the game at once. If he accepts, the right to redouble belongs to the player who accepted the double and the cube is placed facing upward showing the power of two to indicate that the game is doubled.