Beginners and the Backgammon Board Setup

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

Ask any new backgammon player what they found the most perplexing at the beginning of their journey and they will say ‘the backgammon board setup'. For players who have been at the game for a little while, it is difficult to understand what could be so complicated about the backgammon board setup, yet most new players need to have the process explained to them once or twice before they get it right.

So why do new backgammon players have so much difficulty understanding the backgammon board setup? There are a number of possible theories. Firstly, there are many elongated triangles on the board, which makes the game seem a little 'busy' initially. It might be hard for brand new players to realize that they need to understand how these points 'work' in order to progress in the game. Secondly, to the new player, it may seem that the checkers are placed randomly on the board in no particular sequence. It may seem that there is no set place for the checkers as one or even fifteen checkers can occupy any point on the board.

New players can rest assured, however, that after a game or two, all fears about the backgammon board setup will evaporate and they will be able to perform the process with their eyes closed. Players can gain some confidence about the backgammon setup by downloading free software from the computer and noting the positions of the checkers before playing for real.