Shesh Besh

Shesh Besh is a Turkish game very similar to Western backgammon.

Setup: The game is set up identical to backgammon. Each player has 2 checkers on the opponent's one-point, 5 on the opponent's twelve-point, 3 on his own eight-point, and 5 on his six-point.

Object: The object of the game is to for the players move all of their checkers around the board to their own home table and then bear them off. The first player to do so wins the game.

To start: Both players roll one die with the higher roller goes first. Unlike backgammon, the winner re-rolls for his first turn.

Movement: Movement of the checkers is identical to backgammon. The roll of the dice indicates how many pips/points the player moves his checkers. The following rules apply:

Checker may be moved only to an open point unoccupied by two or more opposing checkers.

The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. 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. He can only move one checker a total of eight spaces to an open point if the intermediate point is also open.

Doubles are played twice.

Players must use both numbers of a roll if possible, or all four numbers in the case of doubles.