Preliminaries of Playing Backgammon

Before you can actually play a game of backgammon on your board you should know how to set the pieces in their initial or starting position. Every backgammon player should know how to set up their backgammon board. If you are playing backgammon on a real board, and not on a computer, then this process will become necessary especially if you participate in a tournament.

We'll discuss the preliminaries involved before you get to play a live game of backgammon. Let's begin with the necessary equipment you'll require in playing backgammon. Starting with the backgammon board, you'll notice that the regular ones fold like an attaché case or something like the one you use for a game of checkers or chess.

When you open your backgammon board you'll find that there are 24 triangles, known as points, in interchanging colors. The middle portion of your board, where it folds, has a ridge, which is called the bar. The bar divides your board into the left and right panes. The outer board is the side of the board to the left of the bar while the right side is called the home board. You and your opponent will each have an outer board and a home board. Each of these sections of the backgammon board will have six points.

Before positioning your checkers on the backgammon board, check if you have 30 checkers, 15 or half of which in one color and the other half in another color. We shall begin positioning your checkers starting with the home board. Place two of your opponent's checkers on the point on the far right of your own home board and two of your own checkers on the opposite end on his side.

Place five of your checkers on the point on your home board that is right next to the bar. Do the same on your opponent's side only that you instead place five of his checkers. Moving on to the outer board, grab three of your checkers and place them on the second point after the bar. Place three of your opponent's checkers on the opposite end of the board.

Take the last five of your opponent's checkers and place them on the last point to the left of your own outer board. And finally, take your last five checkers and place them on the last point on your opponent's outer board. You'll notice that the starting position of the checkers appear to be mirror images. The only thing left to do now is to place the doubling cube at the center of the bar grab your dice and begin playing.

These are all the preliminaries before you begin playing backgammon on a real board. Placing your board pieces into their starting position is elementary to everything else in this game.

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