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French Backgammon
Learn
the rules for a variation on standard Backgammon called French Backgammon.
The game of French Backgammon bears
little resemblance to the French game known as Trictrac also played with
a Backgammon set. It is played in the same way as
standard Backgammon but with the following differences.
- At the start of the game each player rolls a die with the player who
rolled the highest value playing first. The winning player may either
take the two dice values rolled for their first turn or may roll their
two dice again and take the new values rolled for their first moves.
- All 15 players' checkers/markers start off the board and must be brought into
play on their opponent's home-board by rolling dice values corresponding
to their opponent's equivalent numbered points.
- All 15 checkers must be brought into play before they can be moved
further around the board.
- Their are particular rules for moving checkers to points on the
board, and are as
follows: As usual, checkers may only be moved to an open point (a point
with no or only one of their opponent's checkers), but the player's two
dice values are considered as separate and distinct when moving. So, for
example, if a player rolls a 3 and 5, then two separate checkers could
be moved 3 and 5 points each, but if only one checker is being moved 8
(3+5) points, then either the 3rd or 5th point along from the checker's
original point must be open too. Player's must use both dice values
rolled if possible, but if only one move is possible out of the two
values rolled, then the highest possible dice value must be used.
- As usual, when a player rolls a double, they may move their checkers
twice the two values rolled, but they may also play the "complement" of
the dice values. The "compliment" is the value rolled subtracted from 7,
or the value facedown on the die (opposite faces of dice total 7). For
example, if you roll double-5, you may move your checkers four times 5
points, but you may also move your checkers four times 2 points (7 - 5 =
2). A player also gets to roll again and takes another turn and
continues to play checkers as described for every time after they have
rolled a double. However, if a player is unable to use all four of the
dice value moves, they are not allowed to play the four compliments and
also isn't allowed to roll the dice again.
In a game of French Backgammon you may choose to play one of two
basic strategies:
The Running Game: A player moves a few checkers around the
board and tries to block the points in their home-board, but also keeps
the rest of their checkers held back so he may hit their opponent's
checkers as they are moved into their opponent's home-board.
The Blocking Game: A player tries to keep all their checkers
together to form a "prime" (conescutive points holding two or more
checkers) which he then tries to move forward by moving checkers
steadily from the back to the front. The player may have to break the
prime formation when he encounters points blocked by their opponent's
checkers.
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