Learning to Play Backgammon

There are many ways to learn how to play backgammon. The cautious learner may choose to start off by reading books or online materials. Books have been written by backgammon champions such as Paul Magriel's Backgammon and Backgammon for Winners by Bill Robertie.

Keep a backgammon board set up in front of you while you're reading the book. It helps if you move the checkers as you read about the moves. You'll get a better feel for the backgammon game and the individual moves that way.

A lot of players enjoy learning by playing against automatic backgammon software, or by playing free online backgammon games. While a lot of online backgammon games can be played for money, Backgammon Star and BackgammonMasters are two sites that offer free play for beginners, but also offer real money play for more advanced players.

Both sites allow you to watch games in addition to playing them. Some online backgammon sites offer "school" games, meaning that their software will instruct you on the correct moves after each roll, but you should be careful about software like that because your opponent is using the same kind of help, so the game becomes a game of pure luck.

If you really want to learn how to play, you can purchase a number of books and boards through Backgammon Shopping. For some computerized backgammon training programs, we recommend the following:

• Snowie
  Snowie is a backgammon software program that is not free. You can order it at http://www.bgsnowie.com.



• Jellyfish
  Jellyfish backgammon is a backgammon program that has learned to play backgammon by playing thousands of games. It is a neural-net based game that exhibits a high level of proficiency. You can download this free backgammon software at: http://www.jellyfish-backgammon.com.



• Motif Backgammon
  provides a free, no-frills online game at http://www.bkgm.com/motif/go.html.