Exercises with solutions
In brief
Each exercise gives a position and a roll. Think it through, then open the solution. You always play White, moving from the highest point to the lowest.
- your checkers (white), moving from 24 toward 1
- computer checkers (black)
- points of the move shown
1. Opening roll: 3-1
You start the game with 3-1. How many different ways can you play this roll, and which one makes your 5-point?
See the solution
There are 16 different ways, counted by final position. The sequence 8/5 6/5 puts two checkers on the 5-point: the computer can no longer land there.
Two or more checkers on a point close it to your opponent. A point made in your home board also makes it harder for them to enter their hit checkers.
2. Playing both dice
You have 6-2. Only one of your checkers is still outside your home board, on the 7-point. Which move must you play first?
See the solution
Only one first move is allowed: 7/5. Then the 6 bears a checker off from the 6-point (6/off). The app offers only this move: it is the only way to play both dice.
The 6 cannot be played from the 7-point, because the 1-point is closed by two black checkers. And no checker can bear off until the one on the 7-point has come home. Playing the 2 elsewhere, for example 6/4, would lose the 6: the rules forbid it.
3. Only one die playable: the larger one
You have 6-5. Your checker on the 13-point can move 6 or 5, but not both. What must you play?
See the solution
You must play 13/7 with the 6, and the 5 is lost. The move 13/8 is not offered.
After 13/7 as after 13/8, the other die would land on the 2-point, which is closed. Your checkers on the 3-point and the 1-point cannot bear off while a checker remains outside. When only one die can be played, the rules require the larger one.
4. A checker on the bar
One of your checkers has been hit. You have 6-4; the computer has closed your entry points 24, 23, 21 and 20. What must you do first?
See the solution
Enter with the 6: bar/19. The 4 cannot enter you, since the 21-point is closed. Once you have entered, you play the 4 with the checker of your choice: 5 ways in all.
While a checker is on the bar, no other can move. White enters in black's home board: the 1 leads to the 24-point, the 6 to the 19-point.
5. Hitting a blot
A black checker is alone on the 7-point, 6 pips from your checkers on the 13-point. You have 5-1. Can you hit it?
See the solution
Yes, by playing both dice with the same checker: 13/8 then 8/7*, or 13/12 then 12/7* (same final position). Of the 6 ways to play this roll, only 1 hits.
A lone checker on a point is hit when an opposing checker lands on it: it goes to the bar and will have to enter again. The hitting checker must be able to land on the intermediate point, here the 8-point or the 12-point.
6. Bearing off with a larger die
All your checkers are in your home board. You have 6-4; your farthest checker is on the 5-point. What is the most checkers you can bear off?
See the solution
2 checkers: 5/off with the 6, then 3/off with the 4. The other permitted way, 5/1 then 3/off, bears off only one.
A die larger than the point of the farthest checker bears that checker off. But as long as a checker remains on the 5-point, the 4 cannot bear off a checker from the 3-point: it must first play a farther checker.
7. Counting points
You have just borne off your last checker. The computer has borne off none and still has a checker on your 3-point. The cube is at 4. How many points do you win?
See the solution
A backgammon: 3 × 4 = 12 points.
If the loser has borne off no checkers, it is a gammon (2 points); if they also have a checker in your home board or on the bar, it is a backgammon (3 points). The total is multiplied by the value of the cube.
8. Counting pips
No checker can pass another any more: it is a race. How many pips do you have, and how many does the computer have?
See the solution
You: 70 pips (2 × 8 + 3 × 6 + 3 × 5 + 2 × 4 + 3 × 3 + 2 × 2). The computer: 67 pips. The app shows both counts at the bottom of the screen.
A checker counts as many pips as the number of points it must travel to bear off: the number of its point for you, 25 minus that number for the computer.