Backgammon is a game for two players. Although you can play in two teams, the rules are still the same for both cases.

This game is played on a board, which consists of 24 triangles alternated in color. The board is divided in 4 quadrants with 6 triangles (or points) in each one. Those quadrants are called "player's home board and outer board" and "opponent's home board and outer board" (see picture below). The home boards are separated from the outer boards by the "bar".

There are 15 checkers of the same color for each player. At the beginning of the game they can place 2 checkers on their 24th point (points are numbered starting in the players' home boards so the 24th point is the outermost), 5 in their 13th point, 3 in their 8th point and 5 in their 6th point.

Backgammon’s object is to move all of the player’s checkers into his own home board and then bear those checkers off before the other player does.

To bear off the checkers is when the player has all of his checkers placed into his own home board and he rolls a number that corresponds to the point where a checker resides. Then he removes (bares off) a checker from that point. So if the player hits a 6, he removes a checker from the 6th point. If there’s no checker on the point he ‘rolled’, the player has to make a compulsory move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. But if there’s no checker on it, he can remove a checker from the highest point on which he has a checker placed.

The times you have to move the checkers is determined by the exact number rolled. If you roll the same number in both dice, the times you have to move your checker is quadrupled.

The player cannot move one of his checkers to a point where there are already 2 or more checkers of the opponent. However, if he moves his checker to a point where there is just one checker of the opponent, that opponent’s checker goes to the “bar”. Players aren’t allowed to move any checker while one of their own is on the bar, they have to wait for their turn to reenter it to their home board.