Question about playing dice

Jennifer · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 17

I have a question about the rules.
The other day when I was playing backgammon with a friend (who is a more advanced player) I rolled a 5-2. I had one checker that I could move either five points or two points, but I was blocked at seven points. This was the only checker that I could move. If I moved it two points, I could hit my opponent to the bar because he had a blot on this point. If I moved the checker five points I would be on an empty space. I could only move one of the dice, so I chose to move two points and hit my opponent. However, my opponent told me that in a case where you can only play one die you have to play the higher number and that I had to move to five. I wasn’t sure if this was a real rule or if my friend just made it up so that I wouldn’t land on his blot. Was my friend correct?

Catalin · Joined: 14 Jun 2007 Posts: 24

It sounds like you don’t trust your friend very much, haha!

It is indeed correct that if you can only play one die but you have the option to choose then you must play the higher number. I’m not sure the reason for this rule, but that’s the way it is. Your friend wasn’t pulling your leg.

I think it is also important to point out that this only occurs when you can only play one of the two dice. If you roll a 5-2 and have the option to move one of your checkers 2 and then 5 then it is fine to play the lower number first, as long as you can still play the higher number as well.