How to play Long Backgammon

Long backgammon, often called long nardy or simply nardy, is a favourite across Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. It uses the same board, fifteen checkers per side and two dice as the western game, but it plays very differently. Both players move their checkers the same way round the board, nothing is ever hit, and a single checker is enough to block a point. Instead of attacking, you win by moving efficiently and by building walls that slow your opponent down.

Because there is no hitting, there are no sudden reversals of fortune: every roll you play well adds up. Over many games the dice even out, so the player who wastes fewer pips, gets stuck less often and blocks the other side more cleverly comes out ahead time after time.

How to play on skill.games

You play the light checkers and always move first. The computer plays the dark checkers.

• Roll: when it is your turn, tap anywhere on the board to roll both dice.
• Move: checkers that can move are ringed in green. Tap one, then tap a highlighted green point. You can also drag a checker to its destination.
• Using both dice at once: a point that needs both dice lights up when every stop on the way is legal, and one tap plays the whole move.
• Bearing off: once all your checkers are home, your tray glows. Tap a checker, then the tray.
• Refused moves: a checker that cannot move shakes when tapped. If you have no legal move, the game shows "No moves" and passes the turn.

Before each game the settings popup lets you choose Easy, Normal or Hard. The menu button in the top-left corner pauses the game. An unfinished game is saved at the start of each turn, so you can continue it next time.

The results screen shows the checkers each side bore off, turns and doubles, plus your record at that level: wins, losses, win rate and streaks.

Rules

Setup. All fifteen of your checkers start stacked on one point in the top-right corner, called your head. All fifteen of the computer's checkers start on its head in the bottom-left corner, directly across the board.

Direction. Both sides travel counter-clockwise. Your checkers run along the top row from right to left, then along the bottom row from left to right, and your home is the bottom-right quarter. The computer's checkers run along the bottom row from left to right, then along the top row from right to left, and its home is the top-left quarter.

A turn.

1. Roll two dice.
2. Move a checker by the number on each die, one die at a time. The same checker may use both.
3. A double is played four times: 5-5 gives four moves of 5.

Landing. You may land on an empty point or on your own checkers. Any point holding even one enemy checker is closed to you. Nothing is ever hit or sent back.

Using the dice. You must play as many of your dice as the position allows. There is no rule forcing the higher die: if only one die can be played, you may choose which. If nothing can be played, the turn passes.

The head rule. Only one checker may leave your head each turn. On any double, two may leave it. This keeps players from flooding the board straight away.

The six-block rule. You may not make six points in a row that would trap enemy checkers behind them. A row of six is allowed only if at least one enemy checker is already ahead of it, or if no enemy checker is left behind it. Any move that would break this rule simply isn't offered.

Bearing off. When all fifteen of your checkers are in your home quarter, you may start bearing off. A die removes a checker from the point that number matches. A higher number may bear off a checker only from your farthest-back point. You may also use a roll to move a checker forward inside your home instead.

Winning. The first side to bear off all fifteen checkers wins the game.

Strategy tips

• Leave the head steadily. Since only one checker can leave the head per turn, falling behind here is hard to make up. Try to move a checker off the head on nearly every turn early on.
• One checker is a wall. A single checker blocks a point completely, so spreading out to occupy many different points does more damage than stacking.
• Block the road ahead of the computer. The computer's checkers have to pass through your home quarter and then the top row. Points you hold there, especially several in a row, can leave its rolls with nowhere to go.
• Build up to five in a row. Five points in a row are always legal and very hard to jump. Plan for the sixth only when an enemy checker has already passed the block.
• Stay flexible. Keep checkers on several points with different gaps between them, so most rolls have a good use.
• Count the race. Late in the game, add up how far each side still has to travel. If you are ahead, simply move home cleanly; if behind, hold your blocking points as long as you can.

Difficulty levels

• Easy: the computer plays one checker at a time, choosing a random legal move each time. It neither plans its turn nor tries to block you.
• Normal: the computer looks at every complete way to play its roll and picks the one that leaves the best position, but roughly one turn in five it settles for a weaker choice.
• Hard: the computer shortlists its six best ways to play the roll, then checks each one against every roll you could throw next and your best answer to it, and plays the one that holds up best.