Backgammon Equipment
Essential backgammon equipment includes a board, two sets of checkers, pair of dice, a pair of dice cups, and the strict will add a doubling cube. Should you buy each item individually or purchase a backgammon set? How can you tell if a backgammon board is good for you? Read this backgammon equipment guide to find out.
Backgammon Boards
The backgammon board is the base on which the game is played and your most important acquisition. Pay attention to those details when buying your first backgammon board:Size: if you intend to travel a lot with your backgammon board, you should buy a compact one, but if the board is planned to be immoveable, or moreover, used in backgammon tournaments, it should be tournament sized, i.e. between 17.32-25.98 inches in height and 21.65-34.64 in width, in other words the opposite of compact.
Material: wooden backgammon board are very popular for home play, but less wanted in backgammon clubs; just imagine the noise of dozens of dice rolled on dozens of wooden surfaces. For that purpose, a board made of or covered with leather, fabric, rubber or plastic would be better.
You should also pay attention to the feel of the board's surface, whether the dice roll directly on the playing surface or they tend to slid and require re-rolling, as well as to the attachment of the triangles, if they are stitched poorly they can pill and damage the smoothness of the surface, if printed, they might discolor…
Backgammon Checkers
Buying a backgammon set can assure you that the checkers are proportional to the backgammon board in size, color and in quality. But since checkers tend to get lost, and later on, crack and/or lose their color, you might need to buy a new set anyway. So when you do, take in consideration the checkers' color (not to similar to one another and different enough from the triangles on the board), size (the standard is about 1.75 inch in diameter, but again, not if the backgammon board is very small), and material (wooden checkers are more durable then plastic).
Backgammon Dice
Backgammon pros will swear to the precision dice, the ones with the rounded corners, inlaid pips and often with an internal marking to ensure a fair and random play. So if you take your backgammon seriously, you should buy them. They come in three different sizes: 1/2 inch, 7/16 inch, and 5/8 inch, and the medium sized are most commonly in use in backgammon tournaments.Dice Cups
The purpose of the dice cup is to shake and drop the roll in the fairest, most random way. To fulfill this purpose, the cup should have enough room to contain the two dice (but not too big they would fall out before the shaking begins), with a rounded exit, from which the dice would fall smoothly onto the backgammon board.
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