Mike's WWW Guide to FIBS Rules

These are not the 'official' rules word for word but FIBS' version of them. They should say pretty much the same as the official rules. I left out some rules that have no meaning for the server (like: what happens if you roll the dice before your opponent has finished her or his move - the server simply doesn't allow this). Currently there are no rules for matches here. They will be added later.

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> help rules

NAME
rules - The basic rules of backgammon

SYNOPSIS
help ruleX

DESCRIPTION
Type help ruleX to see rule X. Currently X can be a number between 1 and 9. The rules are:

  1. the board
  2. direction
  3. the goal
  4. rolling
  5. moving
  6. moving
  7. bearing off
  8. winning
  9. doubling

> help rule1

NAME
rule1 - how the board looks like

DESCRIPTION
Backgammon is a two player game. It's played with 2 dice and 15 pieces for each player on a board with 24 positions and a field called the bar. Before the game starts the pieces are placed on the board like this: 
     +-24-23-22-21-20-19-------18-17-16-15-14-13-+
     |  X              O |   |     O           X |
     |  X              O |   |     O           X |
     |                 O |   |     O           X |
     |                 O |   |                 X |
     |                 O |   |                 X |
     |                   |BAR|                   |v
     |                 X |   |                 O |
     |                 X |   |                 O |
     |                 X |   |     X           O |
     |  O              X |   |     X           O |
     |  O              X |   |     X           O |
     +--1--2--3--4--5--6--------7--8--9-10-11-12-+
SEE ALSO
rules
rule2, rule3, rule4, rule5, rule6, rule7, rule8, rule9

> help rule2

NAME
rule2 - the direction you move pieces

DESCRIPTION
(refer to the board shown in rule 1 for the numbers of the positions) One of the players (O) moves her or his pieces from position 1 to position 24, the other one (X) from position 24 to position 1. For the board shown in rule 1 you would move the X pieces from 24 to 1. The last six positions for each player (1-6 for O and 19-24 for X) are called the player's home board. You always move the pieces to your side of the board, but note that the home board is on the left of the board from X's point of view and on the right from O's point of view. The server always shows a 'v' on one side of the board indicating the direction of your moves.
SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule3, rule4, rule5, rule6, rule7, rule8, rule9

> help rule3

NAME
rule3 - the goal of the game

DESCRIPTION
When you have moved all of your pieces into your home board you can bear them off (remove them from the board according to the numbers on the dice). The winner of a game is the first player who succeeds in bearing of all own pieces from the board.
SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule2, rule4, rule5, rule6, rule7, rule8, rule9

> help rule4

NAME
rule4 - rolling the dice

DESCRIPTION
At the beginning of a game each player rolls with a single die. If both players roll the same number they have to roll again. The player who finally rolls the higher number makes the first move using the two numbers just rolled. After the opening roll both players roll alternating using two dice.
SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule2, rule3, rule5, rule6, rule7, rule8, rule9

> help rule5

NAME
rule5 - moving pieces

DESCRIPTION
After rolling the dice you have to move pieces. Moving pieces means either:
SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule2, rule3, rule4, rule6, rule7, rule8, rule9

> help rule6

NAME
rule6 - moving pieces

DESCRIPTION
  1. If you roll a double the number on the dice is used four times to move a piece.
  2. You have to use both (all) numbers on the dice if possible. You can use any of the numbers first. If you can use either of the numbers but not both, you have to use the higher one for moving one piece.
  3. It's not allowed to move a piece to a position occupied by two or more pieces of your opponent.
  4. If you move a piece to a position occupied by a single piece (blot) of your opponent, this piece is removed from the board and placed on the bar. This piece can later be re-entered into your home board according to rule 5.
  5. If one of your pieces is on the bar, you are not allowed to move pieces on the board before the piece on the bar has been re-entered.
SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule2, rule3, rule4, rule5, rule7, rule8, rule9

> help rule7

NAME
rule7 - bearing off pieces

DESCRIPTION
When you are allowed to bear off pieces (rule 5) you can bear off a piece from a position matching the number on a die (e.g. 5 or 20 if you have rolled a 5) or a piece from the highest occupied position smaller than the number on the die. If you roll a number matching an unoccupied position you are not allowed to bear off pieces from smaller positions if there are any pieces on higher positions. You have to move one of the pieces on the higher positions in this case. You are not forced to bear off pieces if it is also possible to move pieces inside your home board and rule 6 is not violated.
SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule2, rule3, rule4, rule5, rule6, rule8, rule9

> help rule8

NAME
rule8 - winning

DESCRIPTION
The value of a game is the number of points the winner gains at the end of the game. This value is initially 1.

The player who bears off all her or his pieces first is the winner of the game and wins the value of that game. If you win and your opponent couldn't bear off any piece the value of the game is doubled (this is called winning a 'gammon').

You win a 'backgammon' if your opponent couldn't bear off any piece and one or more of her or his pieces are still on the bar or inside your home board. In this case the value of the game is multiplied by 3.

SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule2, rule3, rule4, rule5, rule6, rule7, rule9

> help rule9

NAME
rule9 - doubling

DESCRIPTION
Any player may offer to double the value of a game. After the first double the right to offer the next one alternates between the two players. The player who has accepted the last double is the one who is allowed to offer the next one. You may offer a double when it's your turn to roll but you haven't rolled yet. An offered double can be accepted or rejected (declined). If a double is declined the game is over and the player who has offered the double wins the value of the game before the double was offered.

If a player wins a gammon or a backgammon the value of the game as deter- mined by previous doubling is multiplied by 2 or 3 (see rule 8).

SEE ALSO
rules
rule1, rule2, rule3, rule4, rule5, rule6, rule7, rule8,

Now go back to the the main FIBS Help Page or Command List.

Mike Quinn
NEC Technologies (UK)Ltd.
mquinn@nectech.co.uk
(FIBS name: mikeq)