How to Teach Backgammon to a Child
Backgammon is a great game for kids: if a child can count the dots on two dice and add them together, they can learn to play. The easiest way to teach it is to leave most of the rules out, play a first game together against our Easy computer level, and add one new idea each game.
This post is the plan for that first evening. For the rules in full, written for any beginner, see how to play backgammon. If you’re using a real board too, our guide to setting up a backgammon board shows where every checker goes.
Play backgammon now and follow along with your child.
Why is backgammon a good game to play with kids?
The nights are drawing in and the winter holidays aren’t far off. It’s a good time of year to find a game you can play together, and backgammon has a few things going for it.
- It’s maths in disguise. Every turn is counting and adding: a 5 and a 3 means moving five points and three points, or eight with one checker.
- Luck keeps it fair. A child can roll a double at just the right moment and beat you, fair and square. That’s a big part of the fun.
- Every turn has a choice. Even with a simple roll, there’s usually more than one checker to move, so your child is always deciding something.
- It lasts. The game your child learns at the kitchen table is the same one played in cafés, clubs and tournaments around the world.
Which rules can you leave out at first?
Most of them. A first game only needs five ideas:
- Roll two dice and move your checkers that many points, one checker for each die, or one checker for both.
- Your checkers all travel the same way round the board, toward your home.
- Two or more checkers on a point make it safe. Nobody else can land there.
- A single checker on its own can be hit. It goes to the middle bar and has to start again.
- When all your checkers are home, take them off. First one to take them all off wins.
Leave these for later: the doubling cube, gammons and backgammons, the rule about which number you must play when only one fits, pip counts and move notation. When your child is ready for them, they’re all on our backgammon rules page.
Playing on our site helps here. The game knows every rule, and when your child taps a checker, only the points it can legally reach light up. They can’t make a wrong move, so you don’t have to stop the game to explain why something isn’t allowed.
What does a first game look like?
Here’s a plan for the first three games against the computer. Your child plays the light checkers and holds the tablet or sits at the keyboard. You sit beside them and talk it through.
Before you start
- Press Level and choose Easy. Easy plays almost at random and only now and then takes an obvious hit, so your child has a real chance from the first game.
- Open Settings and leave Point numbers on. They help you say things like “count from the 8”.
- For younger children, switch on End my turn by itself in Settings. Then there’s one less button to remember.
- Let your child pick a board design under Designs. It’s a small thing, but it makes the game theirs.
Game 1: just move
Your child presses Roll dice, says the two numbers out loud, taps a checker and taps one of the lit points. That’s all. Don’t worry about good moves yet. If the computer hits one of their checkers, use it to explain the bar: “That one has to go back to the start and come in again.” Let the game run to the end, even if it takes a while.
Game 2: look for lonely checkers
Now add one idea: a computer checker standing on its own can be hit. Before each move, ask, “Can you land on one of its lonely checkers?” When the game lights up a point with a single dark checker on it, that’s a hit. Children usually love this part.
Game 3: keep yours in pairs
Add the second idea: your own checkers are safe in pairs. Before each move, ask, “Which move leaves the fewest of yours on their own?” If your child gets stuck, press Hint and look at the computer’s suggestion together. Undo takes back a move until the turn is over, so trying things out costs nothing.
After that, the finish line takes care of itself. Once all fifteen checkers are home, the tray on the right lights up when a checker can come off.
How often will a child beat the Easy level?
We wanted to know whether those two ideas really make a difference, so we tested them. We had the computer play 2,000 games against Easy for each of three simple ways of playing, the way a beginner might:
| How the beginner plays | Games won against Easy |
|---|---|
| Moves any legal checker, at random | 412 of 2,000 |
| Hits a lonely checker whenever it can, otherwise any move | 1,148 of 2,000 |
| Hits when it can, and leaves as few lonely checkers as possible | 1,898 of 2,000 |
These are computer players following simple rules, not real children, but the pattern is clear. A child who just moves pieces will win about one game in five, which is enough to keep it fun. A child who has learned both ideas from games 2 and 3 should win nearly every time.
That’s also your sign to move up. When your child is winning most games on Easy, switch the Level to Medium. Medium hits whenever it can, so keeping checkers in pairs suddenly matters a lot more.
How do you keep a child interested?
- Stop while it’s still fun. One or two games is plenty for a first session.
- Make a fuss of doubles. Rolling a double means four moves, and children treat it like a prize. Let them.
- Don’t correct every move. Pick one idea per game and let the rest go.
- Let the computer be the opponent. When the computer hits your child’s checker, you’re on their side, not the one doing the hitting.
- Keep score. The game counts wins and losses against the computer at the top of the screen, saved on your device. Watching that number go up is a good reason to come back.
- Turn the music on. There are calm tracks under Music, and some children like playing to nature sounds.
When is a child ready to play against you?
Once they can play a whole game against Easy without help, they’re ready for you. Our two player backgammon mode lets you share one screen: one of you plays Light, the other Dark, and the game keeps a running score. Lay a tablet flat between you and it feels a lot like a real board.
Go gently at first. Play quickly, leave a few lonely checkers of your own, and let the dice do the rest. When your child starts asking what the best first move is, show them our table of the best opening moves. That’s usually the moment they’re hooked.
Questions
- What age can a child learn backgammon?
- There's no fixed age. If a child can count the dots on two dice, add them up and take turns, they can play a first game with the starter rules in this post. The full rules can wait until they're keen.
- Is backgammon good for kids?
- It's a game of counting, adding and planning ahead, and the dice give every player a real chance, so a child can beat a grown-up fairly. Each roll also means a quick decision, which keeps younger players busy.
- Can my child play backgammon on a tablet or phone?
- Yes. Our game is free and runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers. There's no download, no account to make and no chat with other players. On a phone, turn it sideways for a bigger board.