When you’re first approaching a backgammon set, it can be a bit of a confusing experience.  Before I started playing backgammon I always saw the backgammon board on the back of my checker board and could not figure out for the life of me what it was.  But despite the different look, a backgammon set is actually a very simple thing to understand.

 

 

First off, let’s clear the air about the big triangles all over the board.  If you look, you will find the board is divided into 4 sections with twelve triangles in each section.  These triangles are called points and they are simply the spots you move your checkers around the board on; like the squares in checkers.  The points are long simply because you can place more than one checker on a point.   Now, as I said, the board is divided into 4 sections but that means nothing.  You move from one side of the board in a horseshoe shape to the other in order to then move your pieces off the board to win.  The sections do not affect movement or anything else.  The final thing to know about the backgammon set is that the any colors are for design.  You can land on any point, regardless of color, and no other color affects anything.

That’s it.  That’s all there is to any backgammon set.  So now that you know if you want to try it out, pick up a board and get a friend or go online.  You can play online backgammon for free and you’ll find thousands of other players to play against.