Backgammon basics: Bearing Off
We are now well within the midst of the series of blog posts that revolve around teaching the basics of playing backgammon – one of the most recognizable board games in the world.In our last entry, we discussed the subject of hitting and entering (which actually sounds like a trespassing crime waiting to happen). For this entry, I will discuss the subject of bearing off.
Once a backgammon player has finished moving all of his fifteen checkers into his home board, he can now start what is called as bearing off. A player will bear off a checker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point wherein the checker is placed and then removing that checker from the backgammon board. In other words, rolling a six on the dice will allow the player to remove a checker that is located on the six point.
If there is no checker placed on the point that is specified on the roll, the player must make a legal move – which is to move using a checker on a higher numbered point. If there are no checkers located in the higher numbered points then the player is allowed, and required, to remove a checker from the highest point on which one of his checkers are located. A player is not obligated to bear off if he can instead make a legal move.
Remember that a player must have all of his active checkers in his home board before he can bear off. If a checker is hit while in the process of bearing of the player must bring that check back to his home board before he can continue to bear off. The first player who manages to bear off all of his fifteen checkers wins.
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Posted on August 9, 2006 by Nigel | Filed Under Backgammon, Strategy, tips
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