Backgammon is a two-player race game on a 24-point board, one of the oldest known board games — surviving sets date to ~3000 BCE. Each side has 15 checkers; roll dice, race them around the board, and bear them all off before your opponent does. Pure dice would make it gambling; the skill comes from blocking, hitting, and pip-count management.
Roll two dice; move two of your checkers (or one checker twice) by those amounts. Land on a single enemy checker to "hit" it back to the bar. Build "primes" of consecutive points to block your opponent. Bear off only after all 15 checkers are in your home board. First to bear off all wins.
Backgammon mixes dice luck with deep tactics. Variance is high per game but skill dominates over a match. Chess is pure perfect-information.
Total distance all your checkers have left to bear off. The lower pip count is winning the race; experts pip-count constantly to decide whether to race or attack.
Either player may offer to double the stakes. Opponent accepts or resigns at the current value. Used in match play to manage match-equity, not in casual play.
Yes — this single-player vs AI implementation, plus a long list of free clients elsewhere. Skill matters most against human opponents at intermediate levels.
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