Long Nardy Rules With Diagrams (Long Backgammon)

In long nardy each player has 15 checkers, and all of them start on one point, the head. Both players' checkers travel round the board the same way, counterclockwise, and never hit each other. The aim is to bring all your checkers into your home and bear them off before your opponent. Every rule is below, with a diagram.

English sources also call the game narde, nardi or long backgammon.

The points on the diagrams are numbered from White's side. White's head is the 24-point and White's home is points 1 to 6. Black's head is the 12-point and Black's home is points 13 to 18.

How to set up the board in long nardy

All 15 white checkers go on the 24-point and all 15 black checkers on the 12-point, diagonally opposite. That point is the head. White moves from the 24-point to the 1-point. Black moves from the 12-point to the 1-point, crosses to the 24-point and finishes on the 13-point. Each checker travels almost a full circle to get home: at the start both players have a pip count of 360.

The long nardy starting position: 15 white checkers on the 24-point, 15 black checkers on the 12-point — The setup: all 15 checkers of each player stand on the head. Both pip counts are 360.

The checkers, board and dice are the same as in backgammon: see how many pieces in backgammon.

Who goes first

Each player rolls one die. The higher number goes first: that player rolls both dice again and makes the first move. If the numbers are equal, both roll again. A tie on this roll comes up 6 times in 36, on average once every six games.

How the checkers move

Each die is a separate move. With 5-3 you can move one checker 5 and another 3, or one checker 8 if it can stop on the point in between. You cannot pass up a move: if both dice can be played, you play both. If only one can be played, you play the larger one.

There is no hitting in long nardy. Even a single checker holds a point, and the opponent cannot land on it. You can stack as many of your own checkers on a point as you like.

A white checker on the 14-point cannot move 5 to the 9-point, where a black checker stands, and moves 4 to the empty 10-point instead — No hitting. The checker on the 14-point cannot play the 5: the 9-point holds one black checker. The 4 goes to the empty 10-point.

What happens when you roll doubles

Doubles are played four times: with 4-4 you have four moves of four. Doubles come up in 6 rolls out of 36, about once every six rolls. If you can't play all four moves, you play as many as you can.

The head rule: how many checkers can leave the head

Only one checker may leave the head per turn. This holds for doubles too: with 6-6 in the middle of the game one checker leaves the head, and the other sixes are played with other checkers.

The exception is each player's first turn. With 6-6, 4-4 or 3-3 one checker cannot play the whole roll, because the opponent's head is in the way. So two checkers may leave the head. These rolls come up 3 times in 36, once in twelve first moves.

White's first move with 6-6: two checkers have left the head for the 18-point, and nothing more can be played — First move, 6-6: two checkers leave the head, 24/18 24/18. The other two sixes cannot be played: Black's head blocks the 12-point.

What each double gives on White's first move. The moves were worked out by our rules engine: these are all the legal options, not advice.

Double	Checkers off the head	Legal moves
1-1	1	24/23/22/21/20
2-2	1	24/22/20/18/16
3-3	2	24/18 24/18 or 24/15 24/21
4-4	2	24/16 24/16
5-5	1	24/19/14/9/4
6-6	2	24/18 24/18, two sixes are lost

With 5-5 a second checker may not leave: one checker can play all four fives, so the exception isn't needed.

Can you build six points in a row

You may not hold six points in a row unless at least one opposing checker is already in front of that block. Such a block, a full prime, would trap every opposing checker behind it. Five points in a row are always allowed.

White holds the 20- to 16-points; the move 24/21 would make six points in a row with no black checker in front, so it is not allowed — Not allowed: 24/21 would build six points in a row, from the 21-point to the 16-point, with no black checker in front of the block.

As soon as at least one opposing checker has got past the block, six points in a row are allowed.

The same position, but one black checker is already on the 14-point, in front of the block; the move 24/21 is allowed — Allowed: one black checker has already reached the 14-point, in front of the block. The move 24/21 is legal.

"In a row" is counted along the opponent's path. So a block round the corner of the board counts too: for Black, points 3, 2, 1, 24, 23 and 22 follow one another, and White may not hold all of them while no black checker has gone past.

If you cannot move

If no checker can move by the numbers rolled, you lose your turn and your opponent rolls. If only one die can be played, you play it and the other is lost.

Bearing off

You may bear off only when all 15 checkers have reached your home. If even one checker is still on its way, you cannot bear off.

A die bears off a checker from the point with the same number: a 4 from the 4-point.
If that point is empty and so are all higher points, the die bears off your farthest checker.
If that point is empty but higher points hold checkers, you move inside your home with that die.
Instead of bearing off, you may make an ordinary move inside your home.

White bears off with 6-2: the 6 takes a checker off the 5-point, the farthest one, the 2 off the 2-point — Bearing off with 6-2. The 6-point is empty, so the 6 bears off the farthest checker, from the 5-point. The 2 bears off a checker from the 2-point.

Who wins and how many points: mars

The first player to bear off all 15 checkers wins.

Result	When	Points
Single game (oin)	The loser has borne off at least one checker	1
Mars	The loser has borne off no checkers	2

Long nardy has no backgammon (koks) and no doubling cube: those belong to short backgammon. Scoring in both games is explained on the gammon and backgammon page.

Can long nardy end in a draw

Not here. The game ends as soon as someone bears off their last checker, even if the opponent needed just one more good roll. Some clubs play a "last roll": if the player who went first finishes first, the other rolls once more and, by bearing everything off, makes the game a draw. This site does not use that rule.

How long nardy differs from backgammon

In short backgammon the checkers are spread over the board, the players move towards each other, a lone checker can be hit, and a game can end in a backgammon worth 3 points. In long nardy there is no hitting; instead there is the head and the ban on six points in a row. The details are in the backgammon rules, every difference in one table is on the nardy vs backgammon page, and a short summary of both games is on the rules page.

If you are completely new, start with how to play long nardy: it walks through a first game move by move. Once the rules are clear, move on to long nardy strategy, which looks at mistakes in real games. The rules are easiest to learn by playing, since the board won't allow an illegal move. Start a game against the computer with the button below, or read how to play long nardy online with a friend or real opponents.