Welcome to Backgammon 101!

New around here? Browse the syllabus, or just get started with the first lesson!

So you’ve learned a few rules about how to play backgammon, but you still don’t understand anything about equity, gammons, what the (gasp!) doubling cube is, or (even worse) when to use it? Do you want to improve your game? You have come to the right place! 

Backgammon is a fun and ancient game with literally thousands of books and articles to help you improve your game. But most of that material is written with the intermediate player in mind, one who knows what an advanced anchor is and is looking to fine tune their knowledge for when to break it. Where is a true newbie, who’s never even heard of an anchor, supposed to start?

Here, we are going to present a series of articles to try and bring you up to speed, step-by-step, from near-zero to an intermediate level. Each article will be bite-sized and will tackle a single topic. Every article will provide follow-up links to the best explanations in books, videos, or other articles, written by the greatest backgammon players in the world in case you would like to dive deeper into any subject . Once you are done with our “course”, it will be easier for you to identify and name the holes in your game, and you will be capable of reading and enjoying any article or book on advanced topics without feeling lost, to help you become the best backgammon player you can be!

Recent posts

  • Running pip count

    Instead of pausing to calculate the (relative) pip count multiple times per game, some players prefer to keep a running pip count in their heads throughout the game. The dice and the checker play have all the information you need to keep track of it at every step of the game. As far as techniques…

  • It just makes… cents

    Why on earth do we use millipoints to describe equity? Here, we have a proposal for a new unit, the cent, with some discussion on what makes it better than the de facto standard. How weird would it be to be given directions in lightyears? It would sound something like “continue on that highway for…

  • Mental shift method

    The mental shift method is a relative count method that is as old as time. It was described in Magriel’s classic Backgammon, and is very simple and intuitive. I don’t know that it’s worth using in every single position, but in some, it’s certainly by far the best tool for the job. Let’s study a…

  • Kangaroo count

    There are many algorithms to help you get an absolute count for a position. Of the lot, I think the kangaroo count is the easiest. It was invented by Nack Ballard, and follows this poem: First you double the far side men.Add big diagonal, double again.Add small diags, times 3, plus 30,And shifting to the…

  • Unit adjustments

    A unit adjustment is an optional final step that can fine-tune the relative count from methods based on the half-crossover count (such as the colourless count or the criss-cross count). Usually, a relative pip count within 5 pips is enough to help you decide what play to make, and this step can be entirely skipped……

  • Criss-cross pip count

    The second pip counting method we will learn, the criss-cross count, is another easy algorithm for calculating the relative count. Like the 321 colourless count, it starts with a crude phase that gives you a count within 5 or so pips and can be further perfected using a unit adjustment refinement phase. The main benefit…