Understanding the Backgammon Board Setup

admin · Site Admin Joined: 15 May 2007 Posts: 860

One of the first things you need to do when you're learning how to play backgammon is to understand the backgammon board setup. This is easier said than done. The advantage to playing free online backgammon on the internet is that the board is always set up for you. The disadvantage is that unless you play live backgammon, you may never learn how to set it up for yourself!

However, learning the backgammon board setup is hardly a new phenomenon. For thousands of years, people have been playing backgammon. The earliest backgammon boards have been discovered in historical sites all over the world, proving the game had its early origins in the classical world. A board game known as Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum, which was played by the Romans, has a very similar board to the one used today by backgammon players.

If you grew up in the United States in the 1970's, chances are you already know how the backgammon board setup works. Most American households owned a backgammon board during this period and the game was a popular family pursuit. It wasn't until the last few years when backgammon developed online that the demand for knowledge about the backgammon board resurfaced.

So let's take a look at the backgammon board setup. The board is divided into four sectors which play the role of home board and outer board for both players. The entire board consists of 24 triangles in alternating shades of white and black. A bar separates the board in the centre. Each player uses 15 checkers to play a game of backgammon and must move them either clockwise or anti-clockwise around the board toward his home board area. The direction in which he moves is determined by the color of his checkers.