Play Backgammon Online
Free backgammon against the computer. Pick a level from Easy to Extreme, roll the dice and race your fifteen checkers home. There is nothing to install and no account to make.
How to play on this site
- You play the light checkers. They travel along the top of the board from right to left, then along the bottom from left to right, into your home board in the bottom right corner.
- Press Roll dice. Tap one of your checkers and every point it can reach lights up. Tap a lit point to move there, or drag the checker straight onto it.
- If a checker can use both dice, the point it reaches with both lights up too. One tap makes both moves.
- When your dice are used up, press Done. Until then, Undo takes your moves back. If you'd rather skip the Done button, switch on "End my turn by itself" in Settings.
- Hint suggests a full play for your roll, written the way backgammon players write moves, such as 8/5 6/5.
- Press the space bar to roll or to finish your turn, and Ctrl+Z to undo.
The four computer levels
| Level | How it plays | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | Picks almost any legal move. Now and then it takes an obvious hit. | Learning how the checkers move |
| Medium | Races hard and hits whenever it can, but leaves loose checkers around. | Newer players |
| Hard | Weighs every play: making points, building primes, keeping an anchor and avoiding shots. | Club players |
| Extreme | Takes its five best plays and tries each one 24 times against your possible replies before it chooses. | A real test |
We test the levels against each other over hundreds of games. Medium beats Easy almost every time, Hard beats Medium in about 78 games out of 100, and Extreme edges out Hard. Dice are dice, so even Extreme loses to good play and a bit of luck.
The rules in one minute
- Each side has 15 checkers. You roll two dice and move one checker for each number, or one checker for both.
- You can land on any point that is empty, holds your own checkers, or holds just one of the computer's. Two or more of its checkers block the point.
- A single checker is a blot. Land on it and it goes to the bar in the middle. A checker on the bar has to come back in before anything else can move.
- A double lets you play the number four times.
- Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you bear them off. The first side to bear off all fifteen wins.
- Win before the computer has borne off any checkers and it's a gammon, worth two points. If it still has a checker on the bar or in your home board, it's a backgammon, worth three.
The full rules, with every edge case, are on the backgammon rules page. If you've never played, start with how to play backgammon.
What the numbers mean
The numbers along the edge of the board are the point numbers, counted from your side: your 1-point is in the bottom right corner and your 24-point is in the top right. Players use them to write down moves. You can hide them in Settings.
The numbers at the top of the screen are the pip counts. A pip count is the total distance your checkers still have to travel to bear off. Both sides start on 167. If yours is lower, you are ahead in the race. Our blog has a short guide on counting pips yourself.
Questions
- Is this backgammon game free?
- Yes. It is free to play in your browser with no download and no account. Your settings and your won and lost record are kept on your own device.
- Can I play backgammon against the computer?
- Yes. There are four computer levels: Easy, Medium, Hard and Extreme. You can change the level at any time from the Level button, even in the middle of a game.
- Which checkers are mine?
- You play the light checkers. They start on your 24, 13, 8 and 6 points and travel toward your home board in the bottom right corner, where you bear them off.
- Can I move one checker with both dice?
- Yes. Tap the checker and every point it can reach lights up, including the point it reaches with both dice together. Tap that point and the checker makes both moves.
- Does it use the doubling cube?
- Not yet. Each game here is played for itself, but a gammon or backgammon is still shown when a game ends. The doubling cube is explained on the rules page.
- What do the numbers at the top of the screen mean?
- They are the pip counts: how many points each side still has to move to bear off every checker. Both sides start on 167. A lower number means you are ahead in the race.
Learn more
- How to play backgammon: a first game, step by step
- Backgammon rules: the full rules, including the doubling cube
- Backgammon strategy: the ideas that win games
- History of backgammon: 5,000 years of dice and checkers
- Blog: opening moves, pip counting and more
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