Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Standard Arrangement
• Method 2 of 3: Game Rules
• Method 3 of 3: Placing Checkers in Other Variants of the Game
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

In backgammon, it is quite easy to place checkers in the starting position, but before that it makes sense to familiarize yourself with the structure of the game board and its division into parts. Backgammon is a fun strategy game characterized by a wealth of possible strategies and tactics. If you want to learn how to play this interesting game, the first thing you should do is familiarize yourself with the board and the initial placement of checkers on it.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Standard Arrangement

1. 1 Check out the backgammon board. It is important to know the basics of the game before placing the first checker on the field. Here's everything you need to know about the board before you start placing checkers on it:
   • There are 24 triangles on the board, which are called points.
   • Triangles differ in color and are divided into four groups (quarters, or quadrants) of 6 triangles each.
   • The four groups of triangles bear the following names: your house, yard (the nearest quarter of the field outside the house), the enemy's house and the enemy's yard.
   • The player's home is located in the right or left quadrant closest to it.
   • Both houses are located opposite each other. Courtyards are located in the left or right quadrant, also opposite each other.
   • The triangles are numbered from 1 to 24. Point 24 is the farthest point from each player, located at the leftmost point of your opponent's house, and 1 point is located at the rightmost (left) point of your home.
   • Each player's points are numbered differently. One player's point 24 is another player's point 1, one's point 23 is another's point 2, and so on.
2. 2 Have the players take their 15 checkers. It will be easier if each player places their checkers on their own. Each player has checkers of a certain color, which is different from the checkers of his opponent. Usually white and brown, or black and red checkers are used, although in reality the specific colors are not that important, as long as they are different.
3. 3 Take two of your checkers and place them on point 24. Since the checkers move in an arc during the game, this point will be the farthest from your home. For you this will be the far right corner, and for your opponent it will be the near left corner of the board. Remember that when the players have placed their checkers, they should have a mirrored version of the placement.
4. 4 Place five of your checkers on point 13. This point is located on the same side of the board as point 24, at the far right point of the opponent's side. In order not to be mistaken, you can count in reverse order from the previous point 24, in which you put two checkers.
5. 5 Put three checkers on point 8. The eighth point is located on the side of the board where the player's house is located, this is the second triangle to the left of the center of the board. As before, if you are not sure, count in reverse order from the previous, 13th point, where you placed your five checkers.
6. 6 Place the remaining five checkers on point 6. This point is located near the center of the board, to the right of it for one player and to the left of the other. To be sure, count two triangles from the previous 8th point. These five checkers are already in your home. With their help, you can build obstacles for your opponent, preventing his knocked out checkers from returning to the game.
7. 7 Make sure your checkers and your opponent's checkers are located at different points. Remember that each player has their own numbering of points, so checkers should not overlap. If at any point there are checkers of both players, it means that a mistake was made, and checkers should be placed again.

Method 2 of 3: Game Rules

1. 1 At the start of their turn, players roll the dice. Each player rolls two game dice. The dropped out numbers show how many points this or that checker can pass. They should not be simply added, since each digit corresponds to a separate move.
2. 2 Move your checkers in one direction. Checkers always move in the same direction, from the opponent's house, through both courtyards, to the player's house. Checkers cannot walk backwards. Their trajectory resembles a horseshoe.
3. 3 Place checkers on open points. Checkers can only be placed on open points. Open points are points without checkers, with your checkers, or with one opponent's checker. The player cannot place checkers on a point where two or more opponent's checkers are located, because this point is temporarily "occupied" by him.
4. 4 Try to protect your checkers from the opponent's checkers. Players should try to keep their checkers safe. To do this, move them in such a way that at least two checkers remain on the point. If you have one checker left on the point, the enemy will be able to put his checker on yours, knocking it out (a point with one checker is called a blot). In this case, you will have to start over from the opponent's house with a knocked out checker.
5. 5 Become familiar with the concept of a take. If a player has the same numbers on both dice (double), then he can resemble 4 times in accordance with the dropped number. Thus, if you have two triplets, you can walk with your checkers 4 times, three moves each (or make a dash with one checker, making all four moves with it one).
6. 6 To win the game, you must first remove all your checkers from the board. As soon as all the player's checkers are in his house, he can start removing them from the game board. This is called "throwing checkers off the board". To do this, it is necessary that the number of the point on which this or that checker is located falls on the dice.
   • For example, if your two checkers are on point 5, and you get 5 and 3, you can remove one checker from the field, and then either move the second checker to point 2, or be like another checker in the house. If you do not have a number corresponding to the point where the checkers are located, you can move them closer to point 1, but then you still have to roll out the number 1 in order to take the checker out of the board.

Method 3 of 3: Placing Checkers in Other Variants of the Game

1. 1 Backgammon Nackgammon. In this type of backgammon, each player must bet 2 checkers on point 24, 2 checkers on point 23, 4 checkers on point 13, 3 checkers on point 8 and 4 checkers on point 6. As you can easily see, the arrangement is similar to the traditional one, in addition, that you "borrowed" one checker from point 13 and another from point 6, putting them on point 23. Apart from the differences in the initial arrangement, the rest of the game is similar to the standard variation.
2. 2 Arrange checkers for hyper backgammon. For this variation, each player only needs 3 checkers. Checkers should be placed on points 24, 23 and 22. After that you can start playing this fast version of backgammon. Apart from the number of checkers and their initial position, the rules are no different from the standard ones.
3. 3 Arrange the checkers for long backgammon. In this version, players must place all 15 checkers on point 24. The rest of the rules are similar to the standard ones. Since all checkers are located at the farthest point from home, the game lasts a little longer than with the standard arrangement.
4. 4 Arrange checkers for Dutch backgammon. In this version of the game, placing checkers is the simplest! At the beginning of the game on the board in general No checkers, so you don't need to place them before the start of the game. Although the end of the game is similar to the traditional one - taking the checkers out of the field, the game begins when you "bring" your checkers into the opponent's house. In this game, you cannot capture the opponent's checkers until at least one of your checkers reaches your house.

Tips

• Once you understand how to place checkers, carefully study the rules of the backgammon game.
• It is useful to study in detail the rules for placing checkers in backgammon and look at illustrative examples before starting the game itself.

Warnings

• Make sure that the checkers of both players are placed on the board in mirror order - opposite your checkers should be the same number of opponent's checkers.

What do you need

• backgammon board
• 30 checkers of two different colors (15 of each color)
• two dice
• two glasses for mixing dice (optional, you can throw the dice with your hand)
• one doubling cube