How to Set Up a Backgammon Board
Each player needs 15 checkers on four points: two, five, three and five. Once you know where those four points are, setting up takes less than a minute. Here's how to do it right every time.
Know the board first
A backgammon board has 24 narrow triangles called points, twelve on each side. The bar down the middle splits the board into four quarters of six points:
- Your home board: the quarter on your side where you'll bear off. Your points 1 to 6.
- Your outer board: the other quarter on your side. Points 7 to 12.
- Your opponent's outer board: across from your outer board. Your points 13 to 18.
- Your opponent's home board: across from your home board. Your points 19 to 24.
Each player numbers the points from their own side. Your 1-point is your opponent's 24-point, and so on.
Set up in four steps
- Put two checkers on your 24-point. Your 24-point is the point furthest from you on the far side, on the same end as your home board. These are your back checkers.
- Put five checkers on your 13-point. Your 13-point is the corner point on your opponent's side, at the end away from your home board. This is the midpoint.
- Put three checkers on your 8-point. Your 8-point is on your side in your outer board, the second point out from the bar.
- Put five checkers on your 6-point. Your 6-point is on your side, next to the bar, in your home board.
Then your opponent does the same from their side. A quick check: every point with your checkers on it should face a point with the same number of your opponent's checkers. Two face two, five face five, three face three.
A trick to remember it: 2, 5, 3, 5
Start at your opponent's home board and work toward your own: 2 on the far corner (24), 5 on the far midpoint (13), 3 on your 8-point and 5 on your 6-point. Two, five, three, five. Add them up and you get fifteen, which is a handy check that you haven't missed one.
Another way to remember it: the 6-point and 8-point are close together on your side, the 13-point is straight across from your 12-point, and the 24-point is the far corner on the same end as your home board.
Which way the checkers move
Your checkers travel in a horseshoe, from your 24-point down to your 1-point. Start on the far side, move along it to the other end, cross over to your side, and come home. Your opponent goes the other way round. That's why the two back checkers on your 24-point have the furthest to go, and why the five on your 6-point are already home.
Dice, cups and the cube
- Each player has a pair of dice and a cup. You roll into the half of the board on your right.
- The doubling cube starts in the middle, on the bar, with 64 facing up. That stands for 1, because nothing has been doubled yet.
- Checkers that are hit go on the bar. Checkers you bear off go in the tray beside your home board, or just off the edge of the board.
Common setup mistakes
- Home boards on opposite ends. The two home boards must face each other. If yours is on the right and your opponent's is on the left, one of you has set up backwards.
- Swapping the 8 and 6-points. The five go on the 6-point, next to the bar. The three go two points further out.
- Five on the wrong midpoint. Your five go on your 13-point, which is on your opponent's side. Your opponent's five go on your 12-point, on your side.
- Counting fourteen. If a checker is missing, it's usually from the 6-point or the midpoint.
Setups for other games
A few variants start differently. Nackgammon moves one checker from the 6-point and one from the midpoint back to the 23-point. Hypergammon uses only three checkers each, on the 24, 23 and 22-points. In Long Nardy and Plakoto all fifteen checkers start on one point. See our guide to backgammon variants for more.
Questions
- How many checkers does each player have in backgammon?
- Fifteen each, thirty in total. They go two on the 24-point, five on the 13-point, three on the 8-point and five on the 6-point.
- Is the home board on the right or the left?
- Either works. The two home boards just have to be on the same end of the board, facing each other. Online games, including this one, usually put your home board in the bottom right.
- Which way do the checkers move?
- You move from your 24-point toward your 1-point, in a horseshoe: along the far side, across to your side, and into your home board. Your opponent moves the opposite way.
- Is the setup the same in every country?
- For standard backgammon and Turkish Tavla, yes. Some variants use their own setup. In Long Nardy and Plakoto all fifteen checkers start on one point, and in Nackgammon four checkers start back.
Ready to play?
On this site the board is set up for you. Read how to play if you're new, or go straight to a game.