BACKGAMMON DOCS
The goal of Backgammon is to move your pieces, according to the roll of two dice, around the board from
their starting positions to the point where they can be removed. The computer places the pieces in their
appropriate starting points.
 Black moves clockwise from the upper left hand corner; white moves counterclockwise from the lower 
left hand corner. Thus the two players move in opposite directions.
A player rolls the dice and moves a man the number of points shown on one die, then moves another or
the same man the number of points shown on the other die. Each number must be counted out separately,
and if a man can not land on a point after moving one of the die-numbers, the move is not permissible.
When the two dice show the same number (doubles), the number of moves is doubled. For example, with
the roll 3-3 a player must move some combination of pieces three spaces four times.

A block is a point which contains two or more opponents. A player can not end a move indicated by a
die-number by landing on a block. A blot is a point occupied by only one opponent. If die-number move
ends on a blot, the opponent removes that piece and it is automatically placed on the bar. When a player
has a piece on the bar, he may move no other men until he can re-enter (upper left for black, lower left
for white) as a normal move.

To win the game a player must bear off his men from his inner table (upper left six points for white, lower
left six points for black). All his men must be on his inner table before bearing off begins. Players must
bear off from furthest away inward, but it is permissible to move a man further inward on the inner table,
even if it is possible to bear another man off.

A gammon takes place when the loser has born off none of his men. This doubles the score. A
backgammon takes place when the loser has born off no men and has a piece on the bar or the winner's
inner table. This triples the score. At any time a player may double the stakes and the opponent can either
accept the doubling or lose the game.

Computer Backgammon can be played by one person against the computer, or by two people. Black always
goes first, and white is played by the computer. The dice roll appears in the center of the screen: to the
prompt MAN? enter the point (A-X) that the man you wish to move is on.
To the prompt SPACES? enter the number on a die. The computer does not allow erroneous moves. Moves
must be entered one die at a time, even if one piece takes all the moves. If a man is sent to the bar, a piece
appears at the center of the board. Subsequent men will be placed over the first, so only one will show.
The bar position is labeled Z. Enter a move normally. The computer will not accept any other move as
valid while a man is on the bar. If you find that you have no valid move, or if you have born off all your
men and a die-roll remains, enter Y.

To double, enter 2 to the MAN? prompt. The computer will verify, and prompts the opponent to accept
or reject. The computer, in its confidence, will always accept a double but not initiate one. In Computer
Backgammon, only one double is allowed per game. The score appears at the end of the game.