The quick version
Roll, use both dice when legally possible, and move toward your own home board. Two opposing checkers block a landing; one can be hit. Enter every checker on the bar before moving others. Once all remaining checkers are home, bear them off. The first player to remove all 15 wins; there is no answering turn.
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Count the pieces and orient the board
Seat two people opposite each other at a stable table. Use a standard board with 24 triangular points, six in each quarter, and a central bar. Each player takes 15 checkers of one color, a pair of ordinary six-sided dice and a cup. The triangle colors do not assign ownership.
Any complete standard set works. Leave the doubling cube out for this guide’s one-game format; paper and pen are needed only for the match variation.
Choose one player's viewpoint for setup. Their home is the near-right quarter. Number the near row from right to left, 1 through 12, then the far row from left to right, 13 through 24. The bar is a gap, not a point. Points 1–6 are this player's home; 19–24 are the opponent's home. Each checker moves toward lower numbers in its owner's numbering: for this player, along the far row from 24 toward 13, across to 12, then along the near row toward 1.
Using that one viewpoint, put this player's checkers as follows: two on 24, five on 13, three on 8 and five on 6. Put the opponent's two on 1, five on 12, three on 17 and five on 19. Count 15 each. The opponent reverses the numbering, so their own 1 is your 24; they travel the other way. Point to each player's home and trace both paths before rolling. Agree to one cubeless game and the friendly dice/correction conventions below.
Start, move and enter from the bar
Make the opening roll
Each player rolls one die. Reroll ties, however many occur. The higher roller plays first using those two numbers; do not roll a new pair. With an opening 6 and 1, a legal example is moving a checker from your 13 to 7 and another from your 8 to 7. Then alternate turns using your own pair of dice.
Spend the roll as separate moves
For each die, move a checker forward by exactly that many points; do not count the starting point. Use either two checkers or the same checker twice, in either order. A landing can be empty, contain your own checkers, or contain one opponent checker. Two or more opponent checkers block it. You may pass over blocked points, but each separate die's landing must be legal, including the intermediate landing when one checker uses both dice. Doubles give four moves of that number, not another roll.
Use every playable number
Choose a sequence that uses both dice if any legal sequence can do so, rather than choosing an opening move that wastes the other die. If only one number can be used, play it. If either number could be used but both cannot, use the larger. With doubles use as many of the four moves as legally possible. If nothing is legal, the turn ends. You cannot choose to pass a playable roll.
Hit a blot and clear the bar
One opposing checker alone is a blot. Landing on it sends it to the bar, the central ridge. On that player's turn, every checker on the bar must re-enter before any other checker moves. Each die enters one checker onto the matching point in the opponent's home: a 1 enters on the opponent's 1, which is your 24; a 6 enters on your 19. A two-checker block prevents entry; an opposing blot can be hit on entry. If some barred checkers still cannot enter, forfeit unused moves. Once the last enters, spend any remaining playable numbers normally. Hitting and then moving that same checker again is legal.
A 3 and 2 do not let a barred checker enter on the opponent's 5. Enter with one die, then use the other only when all your barred checkers are back.
Bring everyone home, then remove checkers
You may start bearing off only when every checker still in play is in your own home, points 1–6. A die matching an occupied point lets you remove one checker there. A 4 takes a checker from your 4. Checkers already removed stay out.
An oversized die can remove a checker only from your highest occupied point. For example, with your highest checker on 3, a 6 can take it off. If you still have a checker on 6, a 5 cannot remove one from 4: use a legal five-step move instead. Exact bearing off from a lower point is allowed even with checkers higher up.
You may make legal moves inside your home instead of bearing off, and may use the lower die first. With checkers only on 4 and 1 and a 6–1 roll, you can move 4 to 3 with the 1, then take that checker off with the 6. You still must use the maximum playable numbers. With double 2, a checker can move 6 to 4 to 2 and off, leaving one more two-step move to use if possible.
If a checker is hit while you are bearing off, pause bearing off. Re-enter it and bring it all the way home before removing more checkers. Earlier removals remain removed.
Recognize the win and its value
The first player to bear off their fifteenth checker wins immediately. The other player does not get a final turn, so completed games cannot tie.
The cubeless result is a single win worth 1 point if the loser has removed at least one checker; a gammon worth 2 if the loser has removed none; or a backgammon worth 3 if the loser has removed none and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home. Classify the result before clearing the board. In the main one-game format that ends play; the point value matters if you choose a match variation.
For a rematch, restore the complete starting layout and roll one die each again. A blocked turn does not end the game: keep alternating turns. There is no fixed number of rolls or promised whole-game time.
Settle the calls before they become arguments
Before scoring a first game, demonstrate one two-die move, one hit and one re-entry, then restore the starting layout. Ask each player to point out their home. Explain that a tall stack of your own checkers is allowed and a triangle's color never blocks a move.
House dice convention: shake both dice together in the cup and cast onto the bare playing surface of your right-hand half. If either leaves that half, rests on a checker, or is cocked rather than flat, reroll both. This intentionally uses a stricter convention than the USBGF's 2025 tournament default allowing some rolls on checkers. For the opening single-die roll, reroll an invalid die.
House correction convention: leave dice visible while moving, then pick them up to signal completion; wait for that signal before rolling. Check a doubtful move before the next roll. Restore the agreed pre-roll position and replay the same numbers legally. If the position cannot be reconstructed, both players must agree to restart that game with no points awarded. Pause for a rule lookup if they cannot agree; never award an invented penalty. This is a friendly remedy, not the tournament adjudication procedure.
When bearing-off arguments arise, inspect the board as it stands before each die is used. Highest-point removal concerns an oversized die; ordinary internal moves need not start from the highest checker. Keep standard rules separate from tavla or other regional customs. For this cubeless format, an opening tie only causes a reroll and never changes the game value. Extra friends can watch or play a later game; the main format has exactly two active players.
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Ideas & Twists
Choose a variation together before you start.
Backgammon · See main rules
Suggested house variationThree-point cubeless match
Keep all checker rules and leave the cube out for every game. Write each game's 1-, 2- or 3-point result on paper and add it to that winner's total. First to reach or exceed 3 wins the match; exact 3 is unnecessary. Reset all checkers and use a fresh one-die opening roll each game. An equal running total simply means another game. This is a host-selected cubeless match, rather than standard tournament match play with a cube and Crawford game.
Backgammon · See main rules
Suggested house learning variationOpen coaching game
Keep two players and the cubeless rules, but invite both to discuss candidate moves before the mover commits. The mover makes the final choice and uses the rolled numbers legally; there are no rerolls for a poor choice. Ask what will be left exposed and whether both dice can be used. Finish when one player removes all 15, then begin a regular game if wanted. Record this as practice rather than a competitive result.
Backgammon · See main rules
Suggested house variation · four peoplePairs at one board
Use four people as two pairs sharing one color per pair and the same set. Partners may consult; one person in each pair rolls and moves for the whole first game, with that mover deciding disagreements. Opposing pairs still alternate ordinary turns. At the game's end record the pair's normal 1-, 2- or 3-point result, then swap movers within each pair for a rematch. Each individual game ends at the fifteenth removal; agree before starting whether to play one game or the three-point cubeless match. This is cooperative house play, not the main two-person format or a chouette.
About this guide
Standard checker movement and win classification follow USBGF educational rules. The one-game cubeless format, strict bare-surface dice convention, friendly correction remedy and all three variations are explicitly host choices. The current tournament index identifies January 2025 rules; this guide does not claim full tournament compliance. Community evidence and source access limitations are retained in the author packet.
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