Backgammon 18 Games – Offline & Online

Setup: Each player starts with fifteen checkers on the opponent`s one-point. The checkers move around the board in opposite directions

Object The object of the game is to score 31 points by playing multiple rounds and accumulating points by being the first to move all of your tokens off the board.

To start: Both players roll one die and the higher number goes first. That player rolls the dice again to begin his turn. After the first game, the winner of the previous game goes first.

First checker: You have to get one of your checkers to the lower right quadrant before any other checker is allowed to move on the board.

Movement: The roll of the dice indicates how many points, or pips, the player is to move his checkers. The following rules apply:

• A checker may be moved only to an open point, one that is not occupied by any opposing checkers.
• The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. For example, if you roll 5 and 3, you may move one checker five spaces to an open point and another checker three spaces to an open point, or you may move the one checker a total of eight spaces to an open point, but only if the intermediate point (either three or five spaces from the starting point) is also open.
• Doubles are played twice. For example, a roll of 6-6 means you have four sixes to use.
• You must use both numbers of a roll if possible, or all four numbers in the case of doubles. If you can play one number but not both, you must play the higher one.
• If there are no possible moves based on the move, you lose your turn

No hitting: A major difference between Tawla 31 and other forms of backgammon is that there is no hitting in this game. One checker by itself controls a point, and an opposing checker may not land or touch down there.

Bearing off: Once you have moved all fifteen of your checkers into their finishing table, you may begin bearing off. You bear off a checker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on which it resides, then removing the checker from the board.
If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, you must make a legal move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. If there are no checkers on higher-numbered points, you must remove a checker from the highest point that has a checker.
If you roll a smaller number than needed, e.g. you will roll a 2 and the checker is 6th column, you just move that checker two places

Scoring: The first player who gets all his checkers off the board is the winner of this round and accumulates points equivalent to the number of checkers the opponent had left on the board (one point per checker)

End of the game: The game continues over multiple rounds until one of the players adds up to a score of 31