What to Do on the First Roll

What to do on the first roll during a game of backgammon is the type of topic that can cause a raucous fist-fight in the most serene tea room. Even though everyone seems to have an opinion on this topic, there are some near absolute moves that experts and world champions agree are the best things to do with certain combinations of dice on your opening move.

First of all, if words such point, pip, and doubling cube do not ring any bells in your mind, you are not ready to read this article. Get to know the basics of board set-up, and rules of the game before going into basic strategy. For those of you who are familiar with the basics, here are the opening moves that the consensus of experts agree are the best options when starting a game of backgammon:

• Rolling a 6 – 5. Move one of your back checkers from the 24 point to the 13 point.



• Rolling a 6 – 4. With this particular roll there are three options:
  - You can stack a pair of checkers at your 2 point (one from your 6 point and one from your 8 point)
  - First you can run a checker from the 24 point to your 14 point. The problem here is that it leaves that checker open for a hit.
  - You can move a back checker up from the 24 point to the 18 point, and move another checker from the 13 point to the 9 point. Once again, this strategy leaves two checkers open for a hit.



• Rolling a 6 - 3. There are two options for this roll:
  - You can move a checker from the 24 point to the 15 point.
  - You can move one checker from the 24 point to the 18 point and move another from the 13 point to the 10 point.



• Rolling a 6 - 2. There are two options for this roll:
  - Move a back checker from the 24 point to the 16 point.
  - Move a back checker from the 24 point to the 18 point and move a checker from the 13 point to the 11 point.



• Rolling a 6 - 1. Move one checker from your 13 point to your 6 point.



• Rolling a 5 - 4. There are two options for this roll:
  - Move one of the back checkers from the 24 point to the 20 point, and move another from the 13 point to the 8 point.
  - Move two checkers from the 13 point. The first goes to the 8 point and the second goes to the 9 point.



• Rolling a 5 - 3. Move one checker from your 6 point to your 3 point and move another from your 8 point to your 3 point.



• Rolling a 5 - 2. There are two options for this roll:
  - Move one of your back checkers from the 24 point to the 22 point and move another from your 13 point to your 8 point.
  - Bring two mid point checkers down. One from your 13 point to your 8 point and the second from your 13 point to your 11 point.



• Rolling a 5 - 1. Move one of your back checkers from the 24 point to the 23 point and move a mid-point checker from the 13 point to the 8 point.



• Rolling a 4 - 3. Move one of your back checkers from the 24 point to the 21 point and move a mid-point checker from the 13 point to the 9 point.



• Rolling a 4 - 2. Move one checker from your 6 point to your 4 point, and move another from your 8 point to your 4 point.



• Rolling a 4 - 1. Move one of your back checkers from the 24 point to the 23 point and move the other from the 13 point to the 9 point.



• Rolling a 3 - 2. Move your back checker from the 24 point to the 21 point and bring a checker from your 13 point down to your 11 point.



• Rolling a 3 - 1. Move a checker from your 6 point to your 5 point and move another from your 8 point to your 5 point.



• Rolling a 2 - 1. Move one of your back checkers from your 24 point to your 23 point and another from your 13 point to your 11 point.