How to read the moves
Each player counts the points from their own side: your 1 point is the deepest point of your home board and your 24 point is the furthest away. You start with two checkers on your 24 point, five on your 13 point (the mid-point), three on your 8 point and five on your 6 point. A move written 13/7 takes a checker from your 13 point to your 7 point, also called the bar point.
An opening move for every roll
In Suvi the first roll is never a double: tied dice are rolled again, and the player who starts plays that roll. These are the standard plays.
| Roll | Play |
|---|---|
| 3-1 | 8/5 6/5 |
| 4-2 | 8/4 6/4 |
| 6-1 | 13/7 8/7 |
| 5-3 | 8/3 6/3 |
| 6-5 | 24/13 |
| 6-4 | 24/14, or 8/2 6/2 |
| 6-3 | 24/18 13/10 |
| 6-2 | 24/18 13/11 |
| 5-4 | 24/20 13/8 |
| 5-2 | 13/8 13/11 |
| 5-1 | 13/8 24/23 |
| 4-3 | 13/9 13/10 |
| 4-1 | 24/23 13/9 |
| 3-2 | 24/21 13/11 |
| 2-1 | 13/11 24/23 |
The first four make a new point in or next to your home board, which is why they are such good rolls to start with. The rest either run a back checker, split the back pair so it is harder to trap, or bring a builder down from the mid-point ready to make a point next turn.
The pip count: race or fight?
Your pip count is the total distance your checkers still have to travel. Both sides start on 167, and Suvi shows the two counts under the board. An average roll moves just over 8 pips, and being the one about to roll is worth roughly half that.
- Ahead: break contact and race home. Exchanges of hits mostly help the player who is behind.
- Behind: keep contact. Hold an anchor, a point of your own in your opponent's home board (your 20 or 21 point is best), and wait for a shot.
Make points and build a prime
Two or more checkers on a point make it safe and block your opponent. The most useful points to make, in order: your 5 point, your 4 point, your bar point, then the 3 and 2. Keep spare checkers, called builders, on your 6 to 11 points so that next turn's roll has something to make a point with.
Points in a row form a prime. Checkers trapped behind it waste their rolls, and a six-point prime can't be passed at all. Once you have one, walk it forward: make the point in front, then release the one at the back.
Hitting, the bar and safe distances
Hit when it gains you time or traps a checker, and be wary when it leaves you open to several return shots. A hit checker must come back in on your home board before its owner moves anything else, so every point you hold there makes that harder:
| Home points you hold | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Their chance to miss | 1 in 9 | 1 in 4 | 4 in 9 | 25 in 36 |
With all six closed, they can't come in until you open one. Distance matters when you leave a lone checker, called a blot: with nothing in the way, a blot within six pips of an enemy checker is hit by 11 to 17 of the 36 rolls; seven to twelve pips away, by six or fewer. If you must leave a blot, leave it far away.
Bearing off safely
All fifteen checkers must be home before you can bear any off. With no contact left, take a checker off with every die you can rather than moving inside. If your opponent still holds a point in your home board, play for safety: clear your highest points first, keep an even number of checkers on them, and avoid gaps that force awkward moves.
Suvi uses the full rules: a die higher than your highest checker bears off from your highest point; you must use both dice if you can; if only one can be played, it must be the larger one when that is possible.
Gammons and backgammons
Win before your opponent has borne off a checker and it's a gammon, worth 2. Worse still for them, a checker left on the bar or inside your home board makes it a backgammon, worth 3. Suvi counts these in every game, cube or no cube. Winning big, keep attacking and pick up a second checker. Losing big, run everything home: one checker off saves the gammon.
The doubling cube (optional)
The cube is off by default. To switch it on, tap the cube at the centre of the board, or the Cube button after a game, and tick Play with the doubling cube; it applies from the next game. Then either player may double at the start of a turn, before rolling. The other player takes, playing on at twice the value and owning the cube so only they can double next, or drops and concedes at the current value.
- Take if you expect to win at least a quarter of the time from here. Dropping loses 1; taking and losing loses 2, but taking and winning gains 2.
- Double when you are a clear favourite but the game isn't safe yet. If a gammon is likely, play on instead.
- In a long race, a common rule of thumb: double with a pip lead of about 8%, and take if you are no more than about 12% behind.
If you only remember three things
- Make points, especially your 5 point, and don't leave blots within six pips of enemy checkers.
- Check the pip count: race when ahead, hold an anchor when behind.
- Bear off safely while contact remains.
Play your next opening on backgammon against the computer; tap Hint to compare your move with the computer's.
Questions
- Can the opening roll be a double in Suvi?
- No. If the first dice tie, they are rolled again, so the first move is always two different numbers, played by whoever starts.
- Do I have to use both dice?
- Yes, whenever there is a legal way to play both. If only one can be played it must be the larger when possible, and if neither can, the turn passes. Suvi only lights up legal moves.
- What is the best opening roll?
- 3-1, because it makes your 5 point straight away. 4-2 and 6-1 are close behind.
- Does a gammon count when the cube is off?
- Yes. A gammon is worth 2 points and a backgammon 3 in every game. With the cube on, those are multiplied by the cube's value.
Play it now
Backgammon is free on Suvi, on your phone or computer, no download. Also: Backgammon vs Computer · 2 Player Backgammon · Backgammon With a Friend Online.