Backgammon Opening Moves

The best play for every opening roll, with diagrams

Your very first move sets the tone of the game. Because the opening roll is always two different numbers, there are exactly fifteen opening rolls, and decades of computer analysis have settled on a best (or near-best) play for each. This page walks through them with board diagrams — the point-making rolls, the famous "lover's leap", and the standard split-and-build plays — plus a quick-reference table for all fifteen. New here? Read the how-to-play guide first, then practice free on BackgammonWorld.

Why the opening matters

To decide who starts, each player rolls one die; the higher number goes first and plays those two dice. That first move is your only "known" roll, so playing it well is free value. The strongest openings do one of three things: make a valuable point, run a back checker toward safety, or split and bring down a builder to make a point next turn. Nearly every recommended play below falls into one of those buckets.

How to read the notation

Moves are written as from/to. So 8/5 means "move a checker from your 8-point to your 5-point", and 24/13 means "move a checker from your 24-point all the way to your 13-point". Each player counts their own points from 1 (their last home point) to 24 (the far corner). In the diagrams below you play the ivory (white) checkers, moving from the high-numbered points down toward point 1.

The point-making rolls (the best)

Four opening rolls let you immediately make a valuable point. Making a point is almost always better than anything else on the first move — it builds safety and starts a blockade at the same time.

3-1 — make the 5-point (8/5, 6/5)

The best opening roll there is. The 5-point is the "golden point", and making it on move one is a dream start — a made point right where your opponent's back checkers want to escape.

6-1 — make the bar point (13/7, 8/7)

The bar point (your 7-point) is the second most valuable point. Together with the 8- and 6-points it starts a wall right in front of your opponent's back checkers.

4-2 — make the 4-point (8/4, 6/4)

A clean, strong point in your home board. The 4-point is a key building block for both a blockade and a strong board if you later start attacking.

5-3 — make the 3-point (8/3, 6/3)

The 3-point is a little deep, but making a point is still the best use of 5-3. It gives you a solid home-board point to build on.

The running roll: 6-5

The famous "lover's leap": with 6-5 you run a single back checker all the way from the 24-point to the safety of your 13-point (24/18/13). It escapes the back and lands on a point you already own — no risk, big progress.

Splitting & building rolls

The remaining rolls can't make a point straight away, so the standard plan is to split your back checkers (moving one off the 24-point to a more active square) and bring a builder down from the midpoint (13-point) — setting up to make a point next turn. A few examples:

• 2-1, 4-1, 5-1 — bring a builder down and split (e.g. 13/11, 24/23), or slot the 5-point (13/8, 6/5) with 5-1 to try to make it next turn.
• 4-3, 3-2 — split to an advanced square and bring a builder down (e.g. 24/20, 13/10), fighting for the golden 20-anchor.
• 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 — run or split with the 6 and unstack a builder with the smaller die (e.g. 24/18, 13/11), or simply run a back checker (24/14 with 6-4).
• 5-2, 5-4 — bring builders down and split (e.g. 24/22, 13/8 or 24/20, 13/8).

These plays don't look dramatic, but good building beats a flashy but loose move nearly every time.

All 15 openings at a glance

A quick reference for every opening roll. A few rolls have more than one strong choice, shown as an alternative.

What about doubles?

There are no opening doubles. Since the opening is decided by each player casting a single die, a tie is simply re-rolled — so your first move is always two different numbers. Doubles only appear from the second turn onward, where you play the number four times.

Opening principles

• Make a point when you can. The four point-making rolls (3-1, 6-1, 4-2, 5-3) are automatic — take the point.
• Prize the 5-point and bar point. They block your opponent's escape better than any other points.
• Bring builders down. Spare checkers from the 13-point set up next turn's point.
• Split to make an anchor. Moving a back checker to the 20- or 18-point fights for a safe, active anchor.
• Don't over-think it. The plays above are well established — learn them, then focus your energy on the middle game.

Practice the openings

The fastest way to learn is to play them out. On BackgammonWorld the board highlights your legal moves, so you can try each opening and see how the game develops — against the computer on three levels, or against friends and online opponents, all free with no signup.

Go deeper: our full backgammon strategy guide (game plans, priming, anchors) and the how-to-play guide (rules, setup, bearing off).