Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions people ask most before their first game.
Is backgammon luck or skill?
Both. The dice decide what moves are available, but which move you choose — and how you use the doubling cube — is pure skill. Over many games, the stronger player wins far more often than chance alone would predict.
What's the difference between backgammon and tavla?
None, really — tavla is simply the Turkish name for the same family of games. Depending on the exact ruleset, Turkish tavla can mean standard backgammon or one of its local cousins like Moultezim or Gülbara.
What happens if I can't use my whole roll?
You must play as much of the roll as legally possible, even if that means playing only one die instead of two. If no legal move exists at all, your turn is forfeited and passes to your opponent.
What is a gammon or a backgammon win?
If you bear off all your checkers before your opponent bears off any, you win a gammon, worth double the current cube value. If your opponent still has a checker on the bar or in your home board, it's a backgammon, worth triple.
Do I have to use the doubling cube?
No, it's entirely optional and many casual games skip it. It's used in money games and match play to raise the stakes and add a layer of negotiation to the strategy.
How long does a game take?
A single game usually takes 10-20 minutes. Tournament matches are played to a set number of points and can run considerably longer, especially with the doubling cube in play.
Is there competitive backgammon?
Yes. Backgammon has an active international tournament circuit, national federations, and a World Championship held annually in Monte Carlo, alongside a thriving online rating scene.
Why did my Plakoto game end in a draw?
In the pin games — Plakoto, Moultezim and Mahbusa — you trap an opponent's lone checker under yours instead of sending it to the bar. Trapped checkers cannot move until the checker on top leaves, so it is possible for both sides to pin each other into positions where nobody has a legal move left. When that happens the game is scored as a draw. The related mother-checker rule ends things sooner: if the last checker still sitting on a player's own starting point gets pinned there, that player loses two points immediately. The rule is suspended while the opponent's own starting point is still occupied, and if both are pinned the game is a draw.
Why is there no doubling cube in Narde or Plakoto?
The cube was invented in New York in the 1920s and spread with the international tournament game. The older regional variants were already centuries old by then and are traditionally played without it, scoring by games won instead. We follow each tradition rather than bolting the cube onto everything: it is available in Backgammon, Nackgammon, Hypergammon and Acey-Deucey, and switched off in Narde, Plakoto, Moultezim and Mahbusa.