Backgammon Set-up in its Offline and Online forms

admin · Site Admin Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 862

Whether you are an experienced player, a novice, or even someone who has not yet played the backgammon board game, given this game’s high profile it is more than likely that the backgammon set-up is going to be familiar to you. Few will fail to recognize the flat board divided into twenty-four, narrow triangular-shaped sections or points, traditionally colored in alternating black and white, or brown and white. Down the center of this board runs a ledge call the bar and this serves to divide the board between the two players.

The other components of the backgammon set-up are also well known - the fifteen rounded checkers or counters allocated to each player, the two die (dice is the plural), and the dice-throwing cup. A somewhat less familiar element in the backgammon set-up to those who have never played the game is the special doubling cube. This is dice that is numbered 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 and is used when one of the players wants to double the stakes. The doubling cube is a relatively new backgammon feature, being slightly less than a hundred years old!

Another aspect of the backgammon set-up that only backgammon players will recognize is the opening arrangement of checkers at the start of the game. However, even this does not need to be learned if you opt to login to one of the online backgammon sites that have been developed in recent years. When you decide to start a game, the software performs this setup automatically and presents you with a 3-D virtual backgammon board or realistic appearance and all the pieces in place - perhaps the easiest way to learn the board arrangement for novice players.