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Backgammon Variants

Gul Bara (Crazy Narde)

Gul Bara is similar to Moultezim in that one checker controls a point. The unique feature of Gul Bara is that doubles are very powerful. When you roll doubles, you play your roll in the normal way and then you play every succeeding doubles roll up to and including 6-6.

Gul Bara is also called "Crazy Narde" or "Rosespring Backgammon."

Setup: Each player starts with fifteen checkers on the rightmost point of the far side of the board, at diagonally opposite corners from each. They both move in the same direction, counterclockwise, around the board.

Object: The object of the game is to move all of your checkers around the board and bear them off. The first player to bear off all his checkers wins the game.

To start: Both players roll one die and the higher number goes first. That player rolls the dice again to begin his turn.

Movement: The roll of the dice indicates how many points, or pips, the player is to move his checkers. The following rules apply:

  • A checker may be moved only to an open point, one that is not occupied by an opposing checker.
  • The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. For example, if a player rolls 5 and 3, he may move one checker five spaces to an open point and another checker three spaces to an open point, or he may move the one checker a total of eight spaces to an open point, but only if the intermediate point (either three or five spaces from the starting point) is also open.

No hitting: A major difference between Gul Bara and other forms of backgammon is that there is no hitting in this game. One checker by itself controls a point, and an opposing checker may not land or touch down there.

Doubles: During the first three rolls of the game, doubles are played as in backgammon: each number is played twice. For example, a roll of 6-6 means you have four sixes to use.

When you roll doubles after the first three rolls, you not only play the number you rolled four times, but you also play each successive number four times. For example, if you roll 3-3, you play your four 3's, and then four 4's, and then four 5's, and then four 6's. If at any point you are unable to play all four numbers, you lose the remainder of your turn.

In the early stages of a game, it is not difficult to play consecutive doubles. But since it only takes one checker to block a point, later in the game playing all your doubles is often quite difficult.

Bearing Off: Once you have moved all fifteen of your checkers into your home board, you may begin bearing off. You bear off a checker by rolling a number that corresponds to the point on which it resides, then removing the checker from the board.

If there is no checker on the point indicated by the roll, you must make a legal move using a checker on a higher-numbered point. If there are no checkers on higher-numbered points, you must remove a checker from the highest point that has a checker.

Scoring: The first player to bear off all his checkers wins the game and gets one point. If the winner bears off all his checkers before the loser has borne off any, he gets two points.

There is no doubling in this game.

References

Backgammon Variants
Ace-Deo
Ace-Mid Switch
Acey-Deucey
American Acey-Deucey
Backgammon to Lose
Backgammon 1931 Rules
Backgammon 1969 Rules
Backgammon 1970 Rules
Blast Off
Blocking Backgammon
Chasing the Girls
Chouette
Crazy Narde
Domino Backgammon
Doublets
Duplicate Backgammon
Dutch Backgammon
Eureika
European Acey-Deucey
Fayles
Fevga
French Backgammon
Gioul
Grande Trictrac
Grasshopper
Greek Acey-Deucey
Greek Backgammon
Gul Bara
Handicap Matches
Hyper-backgammon
Irish
Jacquet
LongGammon
  Ludus Lumbardorum
Mexican Backgammon
Misere Backgammon
Moultezim
Nackgammon
Narde
Never-Finishing Game
Old English Backgammon
Pin Game
Plakoto
Plakoto Express
Poof
Portes
Propositions
Roman Backgammon
Roll-Over
Rosespring Backgammon
Russian Backgammon
Shesh Besh
Snake
Swedish Tables
Tables
Tabula
Takhteh
Tapa
Tavla
Tavli
Tawula
Tourne-case
Trictrac
Turkish Backgammon
Two Rolls versus Choice

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