Backgammon according to the normal movement rules. The first player to bear off all fifteen of his/her own checkers wins the game. If the opponent has not yet borne off any checkers when the game ends, the winner scores a "gammon", which counts for double stakes. If the opponent has not yet borne off any checkers and has some on the bar or in the winner's home board, the winner scores a "backgammon", which counts for triple stakes. To speed up match play and to provide an added dimension for strategy, a doubling cube is usually used. The doubling cube is
Backgammon the dice may determine the outcome of a single game, the better player will accumulate the better record over series of many games, somewhat like poker. With each roll of the dice, players must choose from numerous options for moving their checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent. The optional use of a doubling cube allows players to raise the stakes during the game. Like chess, backgammon has been studied with great interest by computer scientists. Owing to this research, backgammon software has been developed that is capable of beating world-class human players (see TD-Gammon for an example). Backgammon