Premature roll question

PipCount · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 16

The other day I witnessed a match between a couple of guys in my backgammon club. Player A rolled the dice, but he didn’t have any legal moves. He had a checker on the bar and both of the numbers that he rolled were blocked with opposing made points. Player B then proceeded to roll, however Player A had not yet picked his dice up. After Player B rolled (a very, very good roll by the way), Player A pointed out that he had not yet picked up his dice and so Player B’s roll would not count.

I was a little disturbed by Player A’s behavior, thinking it was a bit rude. I thought that the premature roll rule was in place in order to prevent players from rolling before their opponent has finished their play. After all, a players move is not set in stone until they finish the play by picking up their dice. However, Player A had no options and therefore Player B wasn’t rushing him or being rude by rolling so quickly.

Does anyone have any opinions on this matter?

GammonGo · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 14

The rule does state that if a player rolls before is opponent has picked up the dice then his opponent may choose whether or not to make him re-roll or not. There is no statement or stipulation about whether or not the original player was able to make a legal move or not. I guess I could see how some people could call Player A’s behavior unsportsmanlike, but I totally agree with his call. After all, he was simply using the rules to his advantage.