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Appendix B. Backgammon Rules

Goal: Each player must move his/her piece according to the number shown on the throw of two dice. S/he moves his/her pieces from his/her opponent's inner table along the playing board across to his/her outer table, and finally into his/her own inner table. The dark and light pieces move in opposite directions.

General guidelines:

To begin:

  1. To begin the game, each player will roll one of his/her die to determine who will go first.
  2. Once this has been determined, players alternate turns by rolls of their dice.

Movement:

  1. Movement of pieces is determined by the value of each roll.
  2. Movement of pieces must always be in the direction outlined by the diagram.
  3. Players are allowed to move their pieces onto any color triangles, as long as the triangle is not occupied by more than one of the opponent's pieces.
  4. If a traingle which is occupied by only one piece is "hit" by an opponent's piece, then the piece which is "hit" should be placed on the board on the middle of the diagram. This piece will remain in this location until its owner is able to move it back onto the board on a successive turn. While this piece remain on the bar, the player is restricted from moving any other pieces on the board.

Bearing off:

  1. Once all of a player's pieces have been moved into the opponent's "inner table", they can begin to "bear off" -- remove their pieces from the board
  2. You may bear off pieces from spots corresponding to the number on the die, or you may move your pieces within your inner table according to the number on the die.
  3. The first player to successfully clear all pieces wins.

Doubles:

  1. If a player rolls "doubles", they are allowed to move a piece by the number shown on the die, four times, or any other pieces any combination of times

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