How to Play Yahoo!! Backgammon

Ancient Egyptians are known to have played a game very similar to Backgammon, involving rolling dice and moving pieces on a board. The Romans played a game with 12 lines drawn on a board, pieces that moved along the lines and dice used to determine the movement of the pieces. The current 24 lines used in Backgammon have been found on game boards almost 1600 years old.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Two players (one player may be the computer)

1. Select the game room you want to play in at Yahoo!! Backgammon.

2. Put the numbers or letters in the box into the space provided to gain access to the room.

3. Choose an opponent by clicking "Join" or "Create a table" to set up your own game.

4. Roll one die. The player with the higher number gets the first turn.

5. Roll two dice on your turn to learn how many moves your game pieces can make.

6. Use red game pieces to move clockwise and white pieces to move counterclockwise. Game pieces can pass over occupied lines and can land on an empty line. An empty line is one with your color or a line with one game piece on it.

7. Move one of the game pieces the exact number shown on one of the two dice by clicking the game piece and dragging it to its destination.

8. Move another game piece or the one you just moved the exact number shown on the other die.

9. Move more pieces if you roll doubles. For example, rolling double four means you can move a total of four pieces four spaces or one piece four spaces and one piece 12 spaces. You can also move two pieces eight spaces or one piece 16 spaces.

10. Continue rolling the dice and moving game pieces until all of your colored pieces are on the lines on the inner board (last six lines before the pieces come off the board).

11. Focus on moving your game pieces off the board as quickly as possible. At this point, pieces can move off the board without using the total number on a die. For example, if you roll a five, you may only use three to move the piece off the board. You don't get to use the extra two moves on another game piece.

12. Win the round by moving all of your game pieces off the board. Win the game by reaching the chosen point total.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure your web browser allows pop ups from the Yahoo!! game site. If it does not, the game may not show up on your screen.
• Each move of the game piece is a separate move. If you roll a five and a three, you cannot move eight spaces if you are not allowed to land and stay on the fifth or third line in the direction you are moving.
• Using the doubling cube increases the number of points the game is worth.
• Avoid having a single game piece on a line, as it may be sent to the bar. It must be moved from the bar successfully before any other game pieces may be moved.