Teaching Kids Backgammonby Phil Simborg3 July 2015

Phil Simborg

The first question to answer is: why teach kids backgammon at all?

And the best answer is: it's a great game. But there's much more to it than that. Without being "preachy" let me just list the reasons backgammon is such a great game for kids:

1. It teaches math, odds, and probability in a fun way.

2. It teaches kids that while there is luck involved, you can still do something about your situation that reduces the chances of bad luck hurting you. It doesn't take much of a leap to see how important this lesson is for life. 

3. Backgammon is a game they can play the rest of their life with friends and family, and it will always be intellectually stimulating and fun. And thanks to technology, they can play anywhere in the world whenever they want.

4. Backgammon will add socially to their life. It is an avenue to make friends and interact with other intelligent, passionate and competitive people. And of course, it is a way they can interact with their family if the entire family plays the game.

So, how do you go about teaching a total beginner how to play the game? It depends, of course, on the age and mentality of the student, and of course I would not teach a 4 year old the same as I would a 17 year old. But I will assume we have a complete beginner with a reasonable ability to concentrate and a desire to learn.

First let me tell you what I would NOT do. I would not sit him down and simply give him a lecture on the rules of the game and the basic strategy. Nothing could be more boring and more of a turn-off to a kid who has no idea what the basic idea of the game is or why he should even be interested. I learned a most important concept about learning from the book, The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. In order to become good at anything, first there must be a burning desire or great incentive, then there must be expert coaching, and then deliberate practice to become skilled, along with, of course, experience.

So the first step is to show the student how much fun and exciting the game can be and how much fun he/she will have playing so that they have a reason to want to learn. How do you do that? Hopefully, the

child has seen you play and seen how much fun you have and how excited you get playing. But also, there is no substitute for having the child share in the excitement. So where do you start?

My best recommendation is to simply sit down and start playing one of two variations that I recommend for beginners. The first variation is to set up the board as follows and roll the dice and see who can get their checkers off first. I call this Bearoff Gammon. Along the way you teach them how to move the checkers and the basic rules of moving and rolling and the excitement of rolling doubles. Of course you don't have to start in this exact position....you can start with only 5 or 6 checkers left on each side to keep it simpler for very young children if you like, or you can make it an even longer race if you want. With older kids, you might even introduce the doubling cube along the way and play a match...the first one to win 7 points wins and you use the cube along the way.

 Bearoff Gammon

The other variation I like to play with kids is Hypergammon. You start with 3 checkers on each other's 1 point and see who can get their checkers off first. With this game, kids will learn about blocking and hitting as well as racing. Again, you can add the doubling cube with older kids or more experienced kids to make the game more exciting. 

 Hypergammon

By now the student has a feel for the movement of the checkers and the basic idea of the game. Now it is time to play backgammon. Do you know what the most difficult part of backgammon is for a beginner? It's figuring out how to set up the board and what direction to move the checkers. I believe one of the main reasons people don't come back to backgammon after they stop for a few months is that they pull out their board and have no clue how to set up the board. I believe every new backgammon set should have a simple set of rules and a diagram showing how to set up the board and the movement of the checkers. Here is a sample of one you can print out and have on hand to help the student remember.

Now, simply play. As you play you can talk about the odds and rules about having to play both dice and playing the higher one if you can only play one, etc. Depending on the age of the student, you might get into the strategy: basically every game is a race, and you should try to win the race. But you can also win by hitting or blocking. And that is the essence of the strategy: race, hit or block. Which of those three is the best strategy given your position and the roll? Save the doubling cube for much later when you are playing backgammon, but of course, be sure to win double for a gammon and triple for a backgammon...it's just more fun that way. Once you have the student playing the game, it's time for more

advanced thinking. I highly recommend going to YouTube and simply search for "How to Play Backgammon" and you will see some excellent videos on the basics of the game. Again, depending on the age of the student, it might even be time for a book or some articles, and of course, if you can afford it, professional teachers have the patience, experience and skill to teach beginners extremely well. 

Here are a few more ideas that will help your child learn faster.

1. Play doubles with your child. Find a friend or other family members and play doubles and let your child roll the dice and move the checkers and together decide on the moves. Keep it fun and not too technical and let him make his moves whenever you can, even if they might be a little wrong. 

2. Kids love electronics, so load Backgammon Ace, XG Mobile, or Backgammon NJ (my three favorites) on their phone or tablet. On the computer, nothing beats the full eXtremeGammon program, and show them how to play on that and get hints and see their errors.

3. Take them to tournaments with you, either local or regional, and let them play in the Novice division and let them be your doubles partner. Get them involved.

4. Start a club at their school or camp. The more kids you get playing, the better it is for your own child to have others his age to play with. And to start a club, simply do with a group a children what I have recommended above for a single student. 

5. For more advanced students, once a week or so give them a lesson on a small, specific part of the game. Lessons should not be more than a half hour, as they will lose patience and it will become work. But use XG and do some bearing off positions, or do opening moves, or basic odds, or even a lesson on the doubling cube. 

6. Go to MindgamesCenter.com and do beginner lessons together with them. You will find, for just a few bucks, lessons for beginners on many areas of the game. Do them together so you can answer questions and explain the answers to them at their level. As they become more experienced, you can go to the Intermediate lessons. (Yes, I am a part-owner and developer of this site, and yes, I produced many of the lesson topics, but we also have lessons by Robertie, Woolsey, Hickey, Falafel, MCG, and many other find teachers that are of great value to players of all levels.)

7. Get them their own board. Having a decent board will make the student more committed to the game. You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars for a nice board for kids...you can get fine, 18" boards for well under $100.00. 

If you have any questions or want more information about resources and help in teaching, starting a club for kids, or lessons, contact me at pjsimborg@gmail.com.

Note: Phil Simborg is a co-founder of Thebackgammonlearningcenter.com and is one of the world's foremost backgammon teachers and lecturers. He has been teaching professionally for over 20 years and has started dozens of backgammon clubs in schools all over the US and has taught hundreds of children to play backgammon.