Backgammon Variations
Over the years, backgammon has evolved into different variations. From the most basic that fits all age groups to highly complex ones which professional backgammon players find difficult to master.
Acey Deucy
In acey-deucy, all the checkers are played on the board. The checkers move around the board in a similar manner in a regular backgammon game - which means that white checkers proceed from the black home board to the black outer board then to the white outer board and to the white home board and can be bore off. The black checkers proceed in a similar fashion.
The rules of the game are like the rules of backgammon, except that any checker can be moved by any player at any time he wants, whether he has checkers to move in, when a 1-2 (acey-deucy) is rolled on the dice, the ace-deuce is played first and then the number he wants is played four times. An extra roll is awarded to the player, and if that additional roll is 1-2, same rule will apply.
The strategy for this game is to attempt to establish advance points in the soonest time possible and if possible to make parallel points as base acey-deucy is to try to make advance points as soon as possible and if possible also to make adjacent points as a positions for a prime. If both sides create primes adjacent to each other, the furthest advance prime will have the advantage. In case that player needs to break his first, he still has a greater chance of winning the game; the longer he can hold his prime, his winning chances will only increase further.
Narde
Narde originated from Kazakhstan and Russia. It is likewise played with 15 checkers for every player.
The game is played in the same manner with backgammon with the exception of some rules:
1) Both players proceed in similar direction. Player 1 starts from 12 to 1, then to 24 and from that point on to 13 and off the board. The second player moves from 24 to 13, then to 12 and from that point to 1 and off the board.
2) A point is acquired even with only one checker is on it. Hitting is absent in the game of narde.
3) When any double is rolled by a player, he moves his checkers depending on the roll two times and not four.
Bearing off is similar to backgammon. He must move his checkers if movement is applicable.
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