What is Nackgammon?
Nackgammon is backgammon with a different starting position. Each side moves one checker from its 13-point and one from its 6-point back to its 23-point, so it starts with four checkers in the opponent's home board instead of two. Every other rule, from hitting and bearing off to the doubling cube, is the rule of standard backgammon.
The extra back checkers change the character of the game. Each side has 194 pips to travel instead of 167, races are rarer, and both players keep anchors and timing to fight for much longer. Quick blitzes work less often, and back games and holding games come up all the time.
The opening rolls matter less, too: memorised replies to each roll help far less when the position is crowded from the start, so the game rewards judgement over preparation.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Backgammon | Nackgammon |
|---|---|---|
| Starting position | Standard BackgammonFifteen checkers each: two on your 24-point, five on your 13-point, three on your 8-point and five on your 6-point. | NackgammonTwo on your 24-point, two on your 23-point, four on your 13-point, three on your 8-point and four on your 6-point. |
| Pip count | Standard BackgammonEach side starts 167 pips from bearing off all its checkers. | NackgammonEach side starts 194 pips away, so games last longer and pure races are rarer. |
| Everything else | Standard BackgammonHitting, entering from the bar, bearing off, the doubling cube and gammons as in backgammon. | NackgammonThe same. The doubling cube and match play work exactly as in standard backgammon. |
History
Nackgammon is named after Nack Ballard, an American player who was among the strongest in the world in the 1980s. He proposed the deeper starting position to cut down on the luck of the opening rolls and to give both players more to think about, since the standard opening had been studied so closely that many games followed familiar paths for the first few moves.
The variant was taken up by strong players in money games and has been played in some tournaments. Computer programs such as GNU Backgammon support it, and it remains the best-known alternative starting position for players who know standard backgammon well.