Like backgammon, players move pieces around a board from their starting position. Once all pieces are in the home quadrant, they may be removed. The first player to remove all pieces wins. The standard rules of backgammon are available on many sites and are not repeated here.

The initial setup for the pieces in trigammon is analogous to the intial setup in backgammon:

In backgammon, there is only one opponent. In trigammon, each player confronts both opponents: one in the first half of the board and the other in the second half. For example, the first half of reds moves directly oppose greens final moves, while the final half of reds moves oppose the blue player. This makes for some interesting strategies as players may adjust their tactics to help or hinder particular opponents. In tournament rules, no talking or signalling is allowed among the opponents.

While the rules are simple, good tactics may not be so easy, and the presence of multiple opponents makes for some new kinds of strategies. Click on either of the above playing boards for a link to a full resolution board that is easy to print out and use for play. The is also a variation of backgammon called quadgammon where four people can play at once. Good luck and have fun!

Because it's more fun to play games on real boards, Leo Mazzeo made one: