Backgammon is one of the oldest board games in the world: two players race 15 checkers around a 24-point board using two dice. Move all your checkers into your home board, then bear them off. First to bear off all 15 wins.
The board has 24 narrow triangles called points, split into four quarters of six. Your home board is the bottom-right quarter. Each side starts with 2 checkers on their 24-point, 5 on the 13-point, 3 on the 8-point and 5 on the 6-point. You move toward your home board; your opponent moves the opposite way.
Roll two dice and move one checker by each number, or one checker by both numbers in turn. A roll of 5-3 can move one checker 5 and another 3, or a single checker 8 if the stop in between is open. Doubles let you move that number four times. You must use both dice if you can; if only one can be played, you must play the larger.
Two or more of your checkers on a point make it safe — your opponent cannot land there. A single checker is a blot. Landing on an opponent's blot hits it and sends it to the bar in the middle. A player with a checker on the bar must bring it back in to the opponent's home board before making any other move.
Once all 15 of your checkers are in your home board, you can bear them off: a roll of 4 removes a checker from the 4-point. If no checker sits on the rolled point, you must move a higher checker; if there is none higher, you can bear off from the highest point. Win before your opponent bears off any checker for a gammon (double), or while they still have a checker on the bar or in your home board for a backgammon (triple).
The first roll decides a lot. With 3-1 make your 5-point (8/5, 6/5). With 4-2 make your 4-point (8/4, 6/4). With 6-1 make your 7-point, the bar point (13/7, 8/7). With 5-3 make your 3-point. With 6-5 run one back checker all the way to safety (24/13), the move called Lover's Leap. Other rolls usually split a back checker or bring a builder down from the midpoint.
Your pip count is the total number of points all your checkers still need to travel to bear off. At the start each side has 167. Add the point number of every checker (bar checkers count 25). The side with the lower count is ahead in the race. The board above shows both pip counts so you can decide whether to race or keep blocking.
A normal win is worth one point. If your opponent hasn't borne off a single checker when you finish, it's a gammon worth two. If they also still have a checker on the bar or in your home board, it's a backgammon worth three. In match play the doubling cube multiplies these values further.
Same table, no loading screens — pick your next hand.