Today we are delighted to launch the classic game of Backgammon to PlayStrategy!

PlayStrategy started out as a fork of Chess site Lichess, and we quickly moved to include other Abstract games such as Draughts and Lines of Action. With each new game we add we move further from our Chess starting point as the introduction of Mancala and Go bring new technical challenges. Backgammon feels even further removed from Chess as the introduction of our first game with randomness - you can't choose your dice, you have to see what you roll and make the best of it!

For the initial launch we are only supporting single-point Backgammon, with no 'Doubling Cube', but it is our intention to extend the gameplay to cover this later, along with game analysis.

If you are totally new to Backgammon, you can find out how to play through our rules page. For players who are used to Backgammon, we still suggest a quick read through of the same page for the 'Platform Gameplay' section. This will explain how to end a turn (click on the dice), which may not be obvious to people who haven't played Backgammon online before, and how to turn on 'Play Forced Actions' which seasoned Backgammon players will expect. You can also find details on the limitations of our implementation, which we hope to improve over time.

Alongside Backgammon, we have also launched the variant Nackgammon which is identical to Backgammon, but with a different starting setup.

As usual whenever we launch a new variant, we will have an Introductory tournament. These will be on Saturday 2nd March:

17:00 UTC+0 Backgammon Introductory (1 hour)

18:10 UTC+0 Nackgammon Introductory (1 hour)

Additionally, the week after, the Mind Sports Olympiad will be running Backgammon and Nackgammon tournaments as part of their online Grand Prix on Saturday 9th March.

In the meantime, feel free to try out Backgammon in the lobby, or against our bots @PS-Random-Mover, @PS-Greedy-One-Move or @PS-Greedy-Two-Move.

As always, enjoy the game, and please let us know of any bugs or feedback you have!