Hitting a blot: In the course of a move, a checker may land on any point that is unoccupied or is occupied by one or more of the player's own checkers. If one die is unable to be moved, but such a move is made possible by the moving of the other die, that move is compulsory. If moves can be made according to either one die or the other, but not both, the higher number must be used.

If one or both numbers do not allow a legal move, the player forfeits that portion of the roll, and the turn ends. On any roll, a player must move according to the numbers on both dice if it is at all possible to do so. For example, a roll of 5-5 allows the player to make four moves of five spaces each. If a player rolls two of the same number, called doubles, that player must play each die twice. The home board of the player with the white checkers is the top right quadrant, while the player with the black checkers has as home board the bottom right quadrant. The image above also shows the starting positions of the checkers. The points form a continuous track in the shape of a horseshoe and the two players move their pieces in opposing directions as shown in the following image: The home boards and outer boards are separated by a divider down the middle referred to as the bar. The four quadrants are the player’s home board and outer board, and the opponent’s home board and outer board. The triangles alternate in color and are divided into four quadrants of six triangles each. Setup and movement: The board consists of 24 long triangles called points or pips. With each roll of the dice, players must choose from numerous options for moving their pieces and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent. The objective of the game is to be first to move all fifteen pieces off the game board. Backgammon is a two-player game, that involves a combination of strategy and luck, where each player has fifteen checkers or pieces that move between twenty-four triangles (points) according to the roll of two dice.

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