The object of backgammon is to get your checkers home and bear them off before your opponent. Each player gets 15 checkers that are placed according to the rules on the board. The first player to clear all his checkers off the board is the winner of the backgammon game.

To begin, the players throw the dice. The player with the highest roll will move first. After that, players roll and move their dice according to the number rolled. The checkers are moved lower, not higher, until all checkers are home, or on the home board.

Backgammon is played by two players using a board of twenty-four narrow triangles called points. Each player has fifteen stones of one color, either a light or dark color, placed along the boards' 24 points. Points alternate in color and are grouped into quadrants. The board is divided into four areas. Each area is called a quadrant and consists of six points each. A quadrant consists of the player's home board and outer board. A center divider, called a bar, divides the board in half. All points on a backgammon board are marked by numbers. A player's farthest point is the twenty-four point, which is also their opponent's one point. Keeping score and track of a game in progress is done using a doubling cube, with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64.

To begin playing backgammon at Backgammon-on-Net, each player rolls one dice. The player who will roll first, is the player who rolled the highest. In the case of a tie, they roll the dice until one player rolls a higher number. The player who threw the highest number moves first according to the number on the dice. For succeeding rolls, the players throw two dice and swap turns. The roll of the dice indicates the number of points, or pips, a player is allowed to move his color stones. Stones are moved forward, never backward, to a lower-numbered point. An important rule to remember is: a stone can only be moved to an open point, in other words, not to a point occupied by more than one opposing stone.

Another important point is that the numbers on the two dice form two separate moves. for instance, if a player rolls 2 and 6, they are allowed to move one stone two spaces to an open point and another stone six spaces to an open point, or they may choose to move only one stone eight spaces (2 + 6 =8) to an open point, but this option can only be done when the intermediate point (either two or six spaces from the starting point) is open. A double roll allows the player to play numbers on the dice two times. For example, 5 and 5 means that the player has four fives to use, and the player may move any combination of stones to complete this move. A player must use both numbers of a roll when possible, and four numbers of a double roll. When only one number can be played, the player is required to play that number. If either number can be played, but not two numbers the player must play the play the higher number. When none of the numbers rolled can be used, the player skips their turn. In a double roll, and it is not possible to play all four numbers, the player has to play the maximum number of plays possible.