Backgammon
Backgammon is a board game for two players in which pieces are moved according to the roll of dice. The winner is the first to remove all of her own pieces from the board. Many variants have developed throughout the world, but most share the same common elements. It is a member of the tables family of games.
Although the game is essentially a race, backgammon offers a significant scope for strategy. With each roll of the dice, a player must choose between numerous options for moving the checkers and plan for possible counter-moves by his opponent. Opportunities for raising the stakes of the game introduce more strategic intricacies. Players have developed a vocabulary for common tactics and occurrences.
Variant
There are many variants to standard backgammon rules. Some are played primarily throughout one geographic region, and others add new tactical elements to the game, such as by altering the starting position, restricting certain moves, or assigning special value to certain dice rolls.
The following optional rules are in widespread use.
- Automatic doubles. If identical numbers are thrown on the first roll, the stakes are doubled. The doubling cube is turned to 2 and remains in the middle. Players usually agree to limit the number of automatic doubles to one per game.
- Beavers. When a player is doubled, he may immediately redouble (beaver) while retaining possession of the cube. The original doubler has the option of accepting or refusing as with a normal double.
- The Jacoby Rule. Gammons and backgammons count only as a single game if neither player has offered a double during the course of the game. This rule speeds up play by eliminating situations where a player avoids doubling so he can play on for a gammon.