Question about bearing off in a backgammon game

Maverick · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 15

I have a question about bearing off. In a situation where I have four checkers left on the board, two on my six point and two on my two point and my opponent has two checkers on my on point I roll double fives. Am I allowed to bear the two checkers off of my two point? I haven’t been able to find any information about this online or in any of the rule books I’ve looked at. Thanks for your help.

GammonGo · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 14

The answer to your question is no. You cannot bear the checkers off the two point because you still have checkers on your six point. The checkers on the six point are blocked by the opposing anchor on your one point so you can’t do anything in this situation.

Catalin · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 24

I think that your confusion may stem from the rule that if you roll a number when you are bearing off that is higher than any of the points that have checkers remaining on them then you may bear a checker off of the highest point with checkers on it. However, this only applies in situations where the rolled number is HIGHER than ANY checkered points. For instance, if the number you rolled was four and you didn’t have checkers on the four, five or six points you could bear a checker off of the highest point that has checkers on it between one, two and three. In your case you still have checkers on the six point so this rule doesn’t apply.