Mexican Backgammon: A faster paced variation

Variety is the spice of life and backgammon is known to have over sixty variations today. Mexican backgammon falls in the sub-group called Acey Deucey because of the importance of the roll of 1 and 2, which is called the Mexican. The backgammon board is set up in the same manner as in regular backgammon. The objective of Mexican backgammon is also the same, which is to be the first player to move all his checkers to his own home table and then bear them off.

Most of the moves in Mexican backgammon are the same as in regular backgammon. However there are some differences, the most notable being the roll of the Mexican. When this is rolled the following steps ensue. The player first plays the 1 and then the 2 in the regular way. The player then names a double of his choice, depending on his need at that point in the Mexican backgammon game, and plays out the double. The player then rolls again and if he gets another Mexican he follows the cycle described above. However if the player is unable to use any of his options he forfeits the remainder and the turn moves to the other player. Say, if a player roll a Mexican and cannot move the 2, he forfeits the options of naming a double and rolling again.

There some other differences in the moves in Mexican backgammon. The lower number of the roll is always moved first. A point cannot have more than 5 checkers. Checkers need to be borne off exactly. In Mexican backgammon there are no gammons or backgammons or doubling. The facility to name a double after the roll of a Mexican increases the pace of the game and makes this type of backgammon very exciting.