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1. Rules

1.1 Basics

Backgammon is played on a board for 2 players. On this board there are 24 points placed in two colors. The pieces lie on the points and have to be moved from point to point.

Each point is numbered from 1 to 24. The field is divided into the right home board and the left outer board and they are divided through the bar.

Pieces which were removed through the opponent are placed on the bar.

Every player receives 15 pieces, which are placed on the board in a defined order. Two pieces are placed on point 24, five on point 13, three on point 8 and five on point 6.

The goal of the game is to be the first player, who bears off all his checkers into the home board. There is just one direction to move the checkers.

The pip count shows how many pips are needed to bear off all pieces. This indicates which player is ahead.

1.2 Rules

At the beginning of the game both players throw a single die. The player throwing the higher number starts using the given dice roll to move the pieces. If the same number comes up on both dice, the players re-roll until the numbers are different.

After the first move the players take alternate turns by rolling the dice. The numbers on the dice show two separate possible moves. One piece can be moved the full amount or each of the two numbers can be moved with separate piece. If a player rolls doubles (where the same number comes up on both dice), they may move double the amount shown.

You may move a piece to any point occupied by your own pieces or to a point with 1 or none of your opponent’s pieces on it. A piece may not be moved to a point with two or more of your opponent’s pieces on it.efined order. Two pieces are placed on point 24, five on point 13, three on point 8 and five on point 6.

The full roll must be used if possible including doubles (Zugzwang). If only one number can be played, it must be the higher number of the two if possible. Otherwise the throw forfeit and the opponent has ist turn.

Since pieces of opposite colors may not occupy the same point, when an opponent lands on a piece, that piece gets removed. This is called a hit and the removed piece is placed on the bar and has to start again.

A player cannot move any pieces on the board, while having pieces on the bar. All pieces on the bar have to re-enter the board first. Pieces enter the board on open points in the opponent's home board

If you cannot enter because all points indicated by the dice are blocked, the turn passes to your opponent.

You cannot start bearing off until all 15 of your pieces have made it to the home board. After all your pieces are in the home board you may bear them off according to the numbers on the dice you throw.
If your opponent hits a piece while you are bearing off, you must enter that piece and bring it all the way around back to your home board before you can continue to bear off pieces.

1.3 Scoring & Winning

Generally you score one point for a won game. Before the game starts, the doubling cube is placed at the side or on the bar with the number 1 on top which indicates that the game is being played for one point. If one player feels they have the advantage during the course of the game they may choose to double the stakes of the game by turning the cube so that the next higher number is facing up. A player may double only on their turn and before they roll the dice. The opponent may then choose to either accept the double or to refuse the double and therefore forfeit the game for one point (or more if it has been doubled before)

You can win in three ways:

  • - One player bears off first and gets rid of all checkers
  • - One player forfeits
  • - One player offers to double and the other decides to pass

1.4 Advanced Rules

Nackgammon
Nackgammon is just a different setting of the checkers. At point 6 and 13 there are 4 instead of 5 checkers, whereas 2 checkers are at point 23. This way the player starts with 4 checkers in the opponent's board

Crawford rule
Since version 2.0 the Crawford rule is activated in Backgammon Gold and applies to tournaments. It says that the doubling cube can not be offered in a game anymore if one of the player is one point away from winning the tournament.

2. Options

2.1 Options

In the free version of Backgammon Gold you can choose between three different difficulty levels: easy, medium and hard. It can be regulated according to your own skill level, before you start playing.

In the premium version (or available as a seperate purchase) the expert level, which has the most skillful artifical intelligence, is available. This is realised by the well-known BGBlitz software.

2.2 Tournament / Match play

If you play against the computer, the length of tournament can be regulated on 1, 3, 5, 7, 11 or infinite points. This length specifies, how many points are needed to win the tournament.

If the preferred tournament length of two online opponents differs, one of them is chosen at random. Infinite tournaments are deactivated for online play.

2.3 Game speed

We offer 5 different speed modes to play faster or slower matches. Professional players can play very fast games and beginners are able to watch every move very closely by choosing a lower speed

2.4 Sound

Backgammon Gold comes with realistic sound effects, e.g. rolling the dice. These sounds can be turned down or deactivated.

2.5 Board style

To meet everybody's taste, we have added a lot of different board designs. As a default the green board is used.

2.6 Tutor

The tutor is a great feature which can especially be helpful for Backgammon beginners. It can also aid more experienced players by rating their moves.

The players' moves are rated by the tutor by showing three different lights. The green light shows that they made the best possible move. The yellow light shows when the move was okay but not the best choice. The red light shows when they made a very bad move.

If the player needs help before making a move they can choose the 'best possible move' function. They can easily undo the last move with the undo button.

This feature comes with the Premium version but can be purchased from within the free version as well.

2.7 Doubling cube

If one player feels they have the advantage during the course of the game they may choose to double the stakes of the game by turning the cube so that the 2 is facing up. A player may double only on their turn and before they roll the dice. The opponent may then choose to pass (drop or decline) the double if they feel they are a big underdog to win the game and forfeit the stakes of the game.

2.8 Show possible moves

Player can use this function in order to highlight possible moves of their pieces. After the dice have been rolled the player can tip on highlighted pieces and see possible points to move to. This way it is possible to play in a clear way.

2.9 Automatic moves

Sometimes there is only one legal move to make. When this function is switched on, that move will be made automatically. This way a faster way of playing is possible.

2.10 Confirm move

With this function a move has to be confirmed before it is the opponent's turn again. This will prevent accidentally made moves.

2.11 Repeat last move

When the opponent has made their move, the player is able to re-watch it before it is their turn again. In order to do that a re-watch button appears on the board.

3. Online Game

3.1 Online game

To start an online game you need to choose 'Play Online' in the main menu of the app. After that you have two possibilities to play online: as a guest or with a registered account.

3.2 Play as a guest

Playing as a guest is a quick way to start an online match without setting up an account. But in order to use the friends list and send out and receive game invitations, a registration is necessary. You can register a mobivention Game Service account or alternatively use one of the social media login services.

3.3 Registered account

To start an online game you need to choose "Play Online" in the main menu of the app. After that you have two possibilities to play online: login with a Facebook or Google+ account or register a mobivention Game Service account. Playing with an account comes with certain advantages. You can create a friends list and send out and receive game invitations.

After logging in with an account you can start an Auto Match and play against a random player. You can also send out game invites to your friends or accept invites from them.

3.4 Friends list

In your friends list you will see several activities. Pending Invites show you incoming invitations from your friends. You can select each invitation and start a game with your friend. Below the Pending Invites list you will find your list of friends. Click on either of them to send out a game invitation. In order to get promptly notified of incoming game invites, allow push notifications for Backgammon Gold. This way you will be able to receive invites even when the app is not opened.

New friends can be added by clicking the '+' symbol. Friends can be added by their nick name or email address.

3.5 Game invites

To invite a friend to a game, just click on your friend's name. Your friend will receive a notification and can either accept or reject your invite. If it takes longer for your friend to reply you can play an offline game against the computer in the meantime. As soon as your friend accepts it, an online game will be started and the offline game will be safed.

4. Statistics

4.1 Statistics

It is possible to save different profiles and game settings on one device. Profile names can be edited and statistics can be deleted.

This data is saved locally on your device and cannot be transfered to another one.

Won tournaments, games, gammons und backgammons are counted and percentally calculated.

4.2 Elo Rating

The Elo value indicates the skill level of each player. You start with an Elo value of 1500. After lost games, it will decrease and after won games, it will rise. How much depends on the opponent's Elo. The higher the Elo value the better the player.

4.3 Points per game

The average number of points, which is reached per game, is shown here.

4.4 Dice statistics

The dice statistics are shown separately:

Number of rolls
Total number of throws, which were rolled in all games.

Number of pips
Total number of pips, which were counted in all games.

Pips per roll
The average number of pips, which were determined per roll.

Opening rolls won
Shows total of won game openings.

Number of doubles
Shows total of rolled doubles.

5. Dice Luck

5.1 Dice Luck

Sometimes we receive reports, which say that the dice of the computer seem to be rigged, so that the computer would have an advantage. But this is not the case in Backgammon Gold. You can keep a record of your own or the computer's dice statistics and prove it wrong.

Because of the mistrust of many users, we offer different possibilities to use the dice.

5.2 Live rolls

With this function players can play with their own real dice. While playing a match, the player rolls his/her own dice and chooses the rolled results. After that the player is able to move the pieces.

5.3 Random.org

Random.org is a website which provides absolutely random numbers. Through a stable internet connection the player receives random dice rolls for every move, which can not be foreseen or influenced by the computer opponent.