Backgammon setup is easiest to understand from one player’s point of view. Number your points from 24 down to 1 in the direction your checkers travel. Your home board contains points 1–6. The opponent counts the same physical board in reverse, so their point numbers differ from yours.
Verify fifteen checkers before rolling
Your standard starting position is two checkers on your 24-point, five on your 13-point, three on your 8-point, and five on your 6-point. The opponent uses the mirrored arrangement from their perspective. Count the stacks aloud and trace each side’s direction toward its own home board. This prevents the common mistake of using a familiar diagram while moving in the wrong direction. The bar separates the halves; it is not an extra numbered point.
Treat the dice as separate moves
Each die describes an individual move. You may move different checkers or one checker twice, but each intermediate landing must be legal. A point containing two or more opposing checkers is closed to you. One opposing checker can be hit and moved to the bar. Doubles provide four moves of that number. Use both dice when possible; if only one can be used and either is individually playable, you must use the higher one.
The bar comes before ordinary movement
If you have a checker on the bar, enter it into the opponent’s home board before moving other checkers. A die corresponds to the opponent’s numbered point for entry. If both entry points are closed, you cannot move. When the final bar checker enters, use any remaining legal die. For learning, physically place the used die to one side so nobody accidentally uses it again while considering the rest of the turn.
Bearing off requires every active checker home
You can begin removing checkers only when all your checkers still on the board are in your home board. An exact die removes a checker from the matching point. A larger die may remove a checker from your highest occupied point only when no checker remains on a higher point. For example, a six can remove a checker from the five-point if the six-point is empty. It cannot jump over a checker still on the six-point to remove one lower down.
Practice the exceptional cases
With checkers on the six- and four-points, a five must move a checker legally from a higher point rather than remove the four-point checker. With all remaining checkers on the four-point and below, a five can remove a checker from the four-point. If you are hit during bearing off, re-enter and bring that checker home before removing more. The first player to remove all fifteen wins; learn match scoring separately after this movement procedure is comfortable.