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.

Are the dice fair, or does the computer cheat?

The dice are fair. Every roll is drawn at random in your browser, the computer never knows your next roll, and it plays by exactly the same rules and luck as you.

Can I play backgammon with a friend?

Yes. Open two player backgammon and you can play a friend on the same phone, tablet or computer. Light and Dark take turns and the score is kept for you.

Does it work on my phone or tablet?

Yes. The game works in any modern browser on phones, tablets and computers. On a phone, turn it sideways for a bigger board.

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.

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.

Three ways to play

Mode	What it is	Best for
Against the computer	Standard backgammon on this page, at four levels	Practice, a quick game on your own
Two players	Two people take turns on one screen	Playing a friend, teaching someone new
Nackgammon	Backgammon with four back checkers each	Longer games with more strategy

Curious about the versions played in Turkey, Greece and Russia? Our page on backgammon variants explains Tavla, Plakoto, Long Nardy, Hypergammon and Acey-Deucey.

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.

What you get

Free, with nothing to install. The game loads in your browser in a second or two. There's no account, no app and no email address to give.
Undo and Hint. Take back a move before you press Done, or ask the computer what it would play. Both are there to help you learn, so use them as much as you like.
Six board designs. Wood, violet, wine, green, slate and night. Pick one under Designs and it's remembered next time.
Calm music. Choose from nature sounds and relaxed tracks, or switch the music off. It carries on when you change board design.
Your record. Your wins and losses against the computer are kept on your own device, so you can see yourself improve.
Works everywhere. Phone, tablet, laptop or desktop. On a phone, turn it sideways for the biggest board.

If you grew up with the backgammon game that came with Windows, this is meant to feel the same: open it, roll, play. No waiting room, no ratings, no pressure.

Beating each level

Each level asks something different of you, so moving up is a good way to learn.

Easy leaves blots all over the board. Practise hitting them and making points, and you'll win most games.
Medium hits whenever it can. Stop leaving loose checkers within six points of its checkers and it will run out of targets.
Hard builds primes and holds anchors. To beat it you need a plan: know when you're ahead in the race and when to hold back and wait.
Extreme tests its best plays against your replies before it moves. Against it, careful bear-offs and good timing win the close games.

A useful habit at any level: before you move, press Hint, think about whether you agree, then decide. Over a few dozen games you'll start to see the same ideas the computer sees.

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.

Five tips for beginners

Make your 5-point early. It's the most valuable point on the board. An opening 3-1 makes it straight away by playing 8/5 6/5.
Don't leave blots close to the enemy. A single checker within six points of an enemy checker can be hit by 11 to 17 of the 36 possible rolls. Seven or more points away, it's much safer.
Count the race. Look at the pip counts at the top. When you're well ahead, run home and avoid contact. When you're behind, keep an anchor back and wait for a shot.
Build points next to each other. Three or four points in a row make a wall your opponent's back checkers struggle to get past. Six in a row, a full prime, can't be passed at all.
Bear off safely. If your opponent still has checkers in your home board, clear your points from the back and try not to leave a lone checker behind.

Our strategy guide goes much further, and the opening moves table shows the best play for every first roll. New words like anchor, prime and gammon are all in the backgammon glossary.

A game with a long history

People have played race games with dice and checkers for around 5,000 years. A board found at the Burnt City in Iran dates from about 3000 BCE, the Romans played a close relative called Tabula, and the game spread across the Middle East and Europe in many local forms. The doubling cube, the biggest change in centuries, appeared in New York clubs in the 1920s. Today backgammon is played in cafés from Istanbul to Athens, in clubs and tournaments worldwide, and online. Read the full story in our history of backgammon.

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.
Are the dice fair, or does the computer cheat?: The dice are fair. Every roll is drawn at random in your browser, the computer never knows your next roll, and it plays by exactly the same rules and luck as you.
Can I play backgammon with a friend?: Yes. Open two player backgammon and you can play a friend on the same phone, tablet or computer. Light and Dark take turns and the score is kept for you.
Does it work on my phone or tablet?: Yes. The game works in any modern browser on phones, tablets and computers. On a phone, turn it sideways for a bigger board.
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.