Play backgammon online, free, against real people
BlitzBackgammon is online backgammon with one twist: every game is a coin match. Both players put in the same number of virtual coins, and whoever wins the game gets the match reward. There is no engine and no bot anywhere in it — every game you play is against another person, in your browser.
Free to play · No download needed · 13+ · Coins have no cash value
How a game works
Pick a time control, pick how many coins are on the line, and ask for a match. BlitzBackgammon looks for another player who wants the same game at roughly your strength, which usually takes seconds, and opens the board for both of you at once. From there it is ordinary backgammon: 24 points, 15 checkers each, two dice rolled for you every turn, doubles played four times, a single checker hit and sent to the bar, and the race home to bear off. No doubling cube.
A game ends when one player bears off all 15 checkers, by resignation, or by a clock reaching zero. Win before your opponent has borne off a single checker and it is a gammon; win while they still have a checker on the bar or in your home board and it is a backgammon. However it ends, the result is worked out on our servers, and both players see the same thing at the same moment.
Bullet, blitz and rapid
Speed backgammon comes in three bands, and BlitzBackgammon carries all of them:
- Bullet — 1 to 2 minutes each. Won and lost on hands as much as on ideas.
- Blitz — 3 to 5 minutes each. The format most online players live in.
- Rapid — 7 to 10 minutes each. Enough time to actually count pips.
Every band comes with an increment — a few seconds added to your clock every turn you play, so a long game cannot be lost on the clock alone. A 3+6 game starts at three minutes and gives six seconds back per turn. Live backgammon goes through what each clock feels like.
It plays in your browser
There is nothing to install and no plugin to approve. Open BlitzBackgammon in the browser you already have, on a laptop, a tablet or a phone, sign in with an email address, and the next screen is a board. Your account, coins and rating are the same wherever you sign in, so a game started at a desk and a game started on a bus draw on one balance. If you would rather have an icon, BlitzBackgammon is also on the App Store and Google Play.
What free actually means here
Free to sign up, with free coins on sign-up and every day. You get coins when you create an account, and a daily bonus adds more every day you come back. After that, the main way to get coins is to win them: win a match reward and it goes straight onto your balance.
If you run dry there are advertiser-funded offers and short surveys that credit coins, and coin packs you can buy. Neither is required to play, and nothing in the game is held back for people who spend — the matchmaking queue, every time control and every coin amount are open to an account that has never paid anything.
How coin matches work
Both players put in the same number of coins, so neither side can buy an advantage. Together those coins are the match reward, and the winner gets it; backgammon has no draws. Gammon and backgammon are shown on the result. The winner always takes the pot. The coins leave your balance when the game starts and the result is settled on the server, which is why a disconnection cannot strand the coins on the line. Every match needs at least 10 coins from each player, and nobody can put in more than their balance. Your balance does not refill automatically.
Coins have no cash value and cannot be withdrawn or exchanged for money. Play responsibly. They cannot be transferred between accounts or exchanged for goods or services either. Coins exist to be played in coin matches, and that is all they do.
Fair play is decided on the server, not on your device
A coin match only means something if the game cannot be rigged, so none of it happens on your computer. The dice are rolled on our servers, every move is checked for legality there, both clocks run there, and every coin movement is written to a ledger. A modified client cannot pick its dice, make an illegal move, hand itself time, or change a balance, because it is not the thing deciding any of those. A brief network drop does not cost you time you were not using.
Engine-assistance, collusion and multi-account detection run on rated games, and you can report or block an opponent from inside a match. BlitzBackgammon is 13+, or the minimum age required in your country if that is higher.
Questions people ask
Is BlitzBackgammon free to play?
Yes. Signing up is free, you get coins when you join, and a daily bonus tops you up every day you come back. Winning a coin match adds the match reward to your balance. Coin packs exist if you want more, but nothing is locked behind them.
Do I need to download anything to play backgammon online?
No. BlitzBackgammon runs in a normal browser on a laptop, a tablet or a phone. Open it, sign in with an email address, and the next screen is a board. If you prefer an app, BlitzBackgammon is also on iOS and Android, with the same account.
Can I play backgammon online with a friend?
Yes. Instead of entering the matchmaking queue, open Challenge and enter your friend's username. They get an invitation, and the game starts the moment they accept. You both put in the same number of coins, exactly as in a matched game. More on playing backgammon with a friend online.
What time controls can I play?
Bullet at 1 and 2 minutes, blitz at 3 and 5 minutes, and rapid at 7 and 10 minutes, each with an increment of three to twelve seconds per turn. The increment adds those seconds to your clock after each turn you play.
How old do I have to be?
BlitzBackgammon is 13+, or the minimum age required in your country if that is higher. Coins are an in-game currency only, but a coin match still means keeping score, and 13 is the floor our Terms of Use set.
How do you stop cheating?
Every dice roll, move, clock and coin movement is handled on the server, so nothing about a game is decided on a player's device and a modified client cannot pick its dice, make an illegal move or add time. Engine-assistance and multi-account detection run on rated games, and you can report or block an opponent from inside a match.
Start a game
Pick a clock, pick your coins, and find out whether you are as fast as you think. More about the app is on the BlitzBackgammon home page, and anything this page did not answer is probably on the support page.