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Backgammon doubles and legal moves: use the whole roll
Learn how to use both dice, choose the higher die when required and play doubles, with complete-turn examples of blocked moves.
Play both dice whenever a legal sequence allows it. If only one can be used, play that one; if either could be used alone but not both together, play the higher. Doubles supply four moves of the same number, and you must use as many as possible. Judge the whole turn, not just its first move.
These obligations follow the USBGF movement rules. All examples below use White’s numbers, decreasing toward home. Move notation such as 8/6 means “move a checker from point 8 to point 6.”
A blocked point matters only when you land on it
A point with two or more enemy checkers is closed to you. A single enemy checker is a blot you can hit. A die can carry you over blocked points, but the end of that die’s move must be legal. Combining dice on one checker still creates two separate landings.
Consider these three different positions. In each, White has one checker on 8 and fourteen already off. Black has the indicated two-checker blocks and all its other checkers on White’s 24-point. The roll is 3–2, and point 3 is open unless stated otherwise.
| Black’s blocks | What White can do | Full-turn result |
|---|---|---|
| Point 5 only | 8/5 with the 3 is blocked. Play 8/6 with the 2, then 6/3 with the 3. | Both dice used: legal. |
| Points 5 and 6 | Both intermediate landings are blocked, although point 3 is open. | No legal move; the turn ends. You cannot jump straight 8/3. |
| Point 3 only | 8/5 and 8/6 are each legal as a first move, but either route’s second move would land on blocked point 3. | Only one die can be used. White must play 8/5 with the larger 3. |
The third example is the higher-die rule. It does not mean “always play the higher die first”: the first example requires the smaller die first to use both.
You cannot deliberately strand a die
If one sequence uses both numbers and another uses only one, choose a two-number sequence, even if it leaves a blot or removes fewer checkers. This can be easy to miss while bearing off. With White on 5 and 4, thirteen already off, Black blocking 1 and a roll of 5–3, 5/off would leave the 3 unplayable. Instead, 5/2 followed by 4/off uses both numbers. The bearing-off guide diagrams that complete position.
This obligation applies before strategic preferences. “I don’t want to be hit” is not a reason to pass a legal die. Backgammon Galore’s legal-move FAQ addresses avoiding a die, choosing die order and having no legal move.
Doubles mean four separate moves
A roll of 3–3 supplies four threes. From the normal starting position, one legal turn is 8/5(2), 6/3(2): move two checkers from 8 to 5 and two from 6 to 3. The parentheses count checkers. That is four legal three-point moves, with points 5 and 3 now held by two White checkers each.
You may use all four moves on one checker, divide them among four checkers, or mix those options. Every intermediate landing must still be open. Doubles do not grant another roll when the turn ends.
If four moves cannot be played, maximize the number used. For example, White has one checker on 8 and fourteen off; Black has two on point 2 and thirteen on point 24. With 2–2, White plays 8/6 and 6/4. The next 2 would land on blocked point 2, so exactly two twos can be used. White cannot stop after the first one, and cannot turn the two unused twos into a single four to bear off from 4.
The bar comes first
While any of your checkers remain on the bar, only entries are eligible moves. Once the last enters, remaining dice can move any of your checkers legally. Count entering as one use of that die, including on doubles. See the bar and re-entry guide for a full entry turn.
Before you end a turn
Check both die orders and, for doubles, possible distributions among checkers. Then ask: does any legal sequence use more dice? If not, does the higher-die rule apply? Once those questions are settled, choose among the remaining legal turns using beginner strategy principles.