Long Nardy Strategy

This page sums up widely accepted principles of long nardy. It isn't a substitute for practice: every position is different, and the dice always have a say. The rules themselves are on the long nardy rules page.

Why long nardy strategy is different from backgammon

In backgammon a single checker can be hit, so a lot of strategy is about safety and attack. In long nardy there's no hitting at all, and you can't land on a point with even one opposing checker. That changes everything: one checker of yours is enough to close a point to your opponent. The game becomes a fight for space — who gets to the important points first, and who ends up with nowhere to go.

The opening: playing from the head

All 15 checkers start on the head, and only one may leave it per turn (the only exception is 6-6, 4-4 or 3-3 on your first turn). That makes head moves a limited resource:

• Bring checkers into play steadily. A turn without a head move is a checker that will have to leave later, when the board is more crowded and your opponent's blocks may be in the way.
• But make each head move count. The checker should land where it does something — takes a useful point or supports your other checkers — not just leave the head for the sake of it.
• Don't run a few checkers far ahead early. Checkers that race off on their own stop helping you control the board, while the rest of your army is still stuck on the head.

Blocking: the heart of the game

A block is several of your points in a row. Your opponent's checkers can't land on any of them, so a long enough block forces them to stop and wait for the exact numbers that jump over it. The best place for a block is right in front of a group of opposing checkers — the more of their checkers it holds up, the better.

• Three or four points in a row already make life hard for your opponent; five is a serious wall.
• Six in a row is only allowed once at least one of your opponent's checkers has passed it. The game won't let you make an illegal block, so plan for five.
• Points in front of your opponent's head are especially valuable early on: their checkers leave the head one at a time, and if the way out is crowded, their development slows down.

Keep your own checkers free

The other side of blocking is not getting blocked yourself. Before each move, check where your opponent's points are along your own path, and which of your checkers might soon have nowhere to go.

• Don't pile checkers on one point. One checker already closes a point to your opponent; extra checkers there add nothing and cost you flexibility. Spreading out gives you more points held and more ways to play future rolls.
• Leave yourself landing spots. Your checkers need open or friendly points within reach of the coming rolls. If too many of them depend on one particular number, a bad roll can wreck your position.
• Get past opposing blocks before they grow. A three-point block is much easier to get by than a five-point one.

Timing

Holding a block costs moves. Every turn you must play your dice, and if the only legal moves are with checkers from your block, you'll have to break it. Good timing means keeping spare moves elsewhere — checkers that can move without breaking the important points — so your block lasts longer than your opponent's patience. Often the player who runs out of useful moves first loses the position.

The race and the pip count

The pip count is the total number of points your checkers still have to travel to be borne off. At the start each player needs 360 (15 checkers × 24 points). Once the checkers have passed each other and blocking no longer matters, the game becomes a pure race, and the pip count tells you who's ahead.

• Ahead in the race? Simplify: get past the remaining obstacles and head home.
• Behind? Keep your blocks as long as your timing allows — the race alone won't save you.

Bearing off and avoiding a mars

Bearing off follows the same rules as in backgammon — see bearing off. Two practical points:

• Bring stragglers home first. A mars (2 points) happens when you haven't borne off a single checker by the time your opponent finishes. When you're clearly losing, every checker left behind increases that risk.
• Fill your home board evenly. Checkers spread over several points let more of your rolls bear something off.

How to practice

1. Play the computer: Amateur first, then Master, which always plays the move it rates best. See playing the computer.
2. Play people online and watch the replays of your matches: blocks that didn't hold and checkers that got stuck are easy to spot afterwards.
3. Test yourself in a rated match or a tournament.

Words like head, block and mars are explained in the glossary. Coming from backgammon? Read long nardy vs backgammon first.

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

Updated: October 24, 2026