Short Backgammon

🎮 How to Play

Learn how to play Short Backgammon by rolling two dice to determine your checker movement. Your goal is to move all your pieces clockwise around the split board and ultimately bear them off. You can hit your opponent’s lone checkers, sending them to the bar, and block their progress by building primes (consecutive points with two or more checkers). This Short Backgammon gameplay blends strategic piece movement with the exciting unpredictability of dice rolls for a thrilling duel.

🕹️ Controls

• Primary Control: Use your mouse to click and drag your checkers to your desired point on the board.
• Secondary Controls: The game will automatically highlight valid moves after your dice roll; simply click on a highlighted point to move there.
• Touchscreen Controls: On mobile devices, tap a checker and then tap your desired destination point to move it.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: For desktop play, use the 'Enter' key to roll the dice and the 'Spacebar' to confirm a selected move. The 'R' key often serves as a re-roll or undo option in some versions.

🎯 Objectives

The primary objective in Short Backgammon is to be the first player to move all 15 of your checkers off the board, a process known as bearing off. Your short-term goals involve strategically moving all your pieces into your home board while simultaneously blocking your opponent's progress and hitting their blots. You achieve victory through careful positioning, maximizing the value of your dice rolls, and successfully navigating your checkers around the board’s 24 points without getting trapped.

💡 Pro Tips

• 🎪 Master the blocking game! Focus on creating anchors (two or more checkers on a point) in your opponent’s home board to disrupt their bearing off strategy and provide safe landing spots for your own hit pieces.
• ⚡ Don’t stack all your checkers on a few points. Spread them out to create more flexible movement options and make it harder for your opponent to hit you.
• 💰 Optimize your dice rolls by making the point closest to your home board first. This builds a powerful prime that can completely block your opponent’s trailing checkers.
• 🏆 To win a gammon (double points), prioritize bearing off quickly but safely. Avoid leaving stragglers in your opponent’s home quadrant that can get hit and significantly delay your game.