Online Backgammon Tournaments

How backgammon tournaments work on NARDEON

Every tournament is single elimination (a knockout): each round you play one match, the winner goes through to the next round and the loser is out. Rounds continue until two players are left for the final.

• Bracket size: 4, 8, 16 or 32 players.
• Seeding by rating. The strongest players are spread across the bracket, so they tend to meet closer to the final rather than in round one.
• Byes. If the number of players isn't exactly 4, 8, 16 or 32, the top seeds go through the first round without playing.
• The game and match length are set by the tournament: backgammon or long nardy, matches to a fixed number of points.

The ready check: 3 minutes to sit down

You don't have to watch the bracket all day. When both players of a pair are free, the game calls you to the match. Press I'm ready within 3 minutes and the match starts as soon as your opponent does the same.

• Didn't press in time? It's a no-show: you lose that match and your opponent goes through.
• Neither player turned up? The higher seed advances.

So keep the game open in a tab once the tournament has started — it will tell you when it's your turn.

How to join an online backgammon tournament

1. Sign up or log in — email, Google or Apple. It takes under a minute.
2. Open the Tournaments section and pick one with registration open.
3. Press Join. You'll see the other players and, once it starts, the bracket.
4. Open the game when the tournament starts and wait for the call to your match.

Tournament match rules

Tournament matches are ordinary NARDEON online matches. The rules are the standard ones — backgammon rules or long nardy rules — with no doubling cube. A game is worth 1 point, a gammon (mars) 2, and in backgammon a backgammon 3.

• Clock: 12 free seconds per move, then a 2-minute time bank for the whole match. No single move may take more than 60 seconds. Run out of time and you lose the match.
• Lost connection: you have a minute to get back (on your turn the move clock keeps running).
• Fair dice: the server rolls, and after the match your browser checks every roll — see how dice verification works.
• Replays: rewatch your tournament matches move by move and share the link.

Getting ready for a tournament

Your seed depends on your rating, and your rating comes from rated matches against random opponents. Play a few matches in quick matchmaking before the tournament, practice against the computer on Master, and brush up on the opening moves — in a short match a good start matters.

Prefer to compete with your own group? A club has its own tables and its own rating.

Play for freeNo sign-up, no download — right in your browser

Updated: October 24, 2026