Backgammon Board
Backgammon Board Set-up and Types
Anyone new to online backgammon and interested in playing should understand the basics of how the game is set-up and played. The backgammon board setup is very easy and straightforward. Let's take a look at how it's done. Also, for anyone that likes to play backgammon offline on a regular basis, it's worth buying your own board and looking at some of the different types of backgammon boards available on the market.
Let's start with the basics: what takes place on the backgammon board during a game? If you're looking at a real wood, plastic, leather or suede backgammon board you'll notice that it folds open and closed. Often if it's open and flipped upside down you'll see a pattern of squares which allows the play to setup a chessboard. Now on the flip side you'll see the actual backgammon board. It's split into two halves with a bar running down the middle. Each side of the board is split in two, meaning that the entire backgammon board contains 4 quadrants.
On each of these 4 quadrants you'll see 6 thin triangles –these are called points and in total there are 24 on the backgammon board. The players move their checkers (also called men or pieces) along the points. Point 1 is the furthest away from your homeboard and point 24 all the way around the other side of the board is where you are moving your checkers. Start by placing 2 checkers on point 1, 5 checkers on point 12, 3 checkers on point 17 and finally 5 checkers on point 19 (already in your homeboard).
According to the dice roll you'll be moving your 15 checkers in a clockwise direction. You opponent will lay his checkers out in a mirror image and your starting point #1 is actually his or her homeboard. The dice must be rolled inside the backgammon board, not on a table. Finally, if one of your checkers is hit (attacked) you must take it off and place it onto the middle bar until you can roll the right dice number to get it back on.
Now if you're playing online backgammon then everything is pretty much set-up and moved around for you automatically. But for people who prefer playing real backgammon with a real board, you'll want to shop around. From a cheap plastic travel set to a hand crafted Dal Negro leather backgammon board, the choice, size and price of boards can vary significantly from $10 to several hundred dollars.
Different players have different preferences. Some like a leather board, some prefer wood and others even prefer playing on a felt backgammon board. Checkers and dice also come in many sizes and weights. It's all a matter of taste and what feels comfortable. If you're a new player start with something cheap and you can always upgrade in the future as you get more serious about your backgammon game.
