Backgammon is played on a board with 24 triangles. These triangles are referred to as points and they indicate in which direction a player has to play. The backgammon board is divided by a partition down the center which is called as bar. The bar separates between the players' inner boards and outer boards.

The points on the backgammon board are numbered according to their place on each of the players' home boards. The player's 1-point (which is the other player 24-point) is placed at the far right of his home board while the other player's 1-point is at the far left of his home board.

The backgammon game is seen as a competition between two opposing sides. Each player receives 15 checkers to move around the points on the backgammon board according to backgammon rules.

At the starting position of the backgammon game, before the opening roll, both players arrange the checkers on the backgammon board in the same manner. Both players place five checkers on the 6-point, three checkers on the 8-point, 5 checkers on the 13-point and 2-checkers on the 24 point.