Backgammon Opening Moves: The 21 Best Plays for Every Roll

A complete reference of the best opening moves in backgammon — every one of the 21 distinct opening rolls, the canonical play, and why decades of computer analysis confirm it.

There are exactly 21 distinct opening rolls in backgammon — fifteen non-double combinations and six doubles. The opening move you make is, statistically, the single play in the game that has been studied more than any other, by more strong players, with more computer assistance. We have known the right answers for the most common rolls for over thirty years.

This post is a fast reference: roll by roll, what the best opening play is, and a one-sentence reason why. Use it to drill, to settle arguments, or to glance at when you sit down at the board and see a roll you do not immediately know what to do with.

For new players who want the underlying ideas before the catalog, start with our how to play backgammon guide.

The strategic shape of the opening

Three goals dominate the first move:

1. Make a point — especially the 5-point, the 4-point, or the bar-point (7-point). These are the most valuable points to own on the board.
2. Run a back checker — partially escape from the 24-point so the back checker is not stuck.
3. Build constructively — drop a builder somewhere useful so the next roll has more options.

Almost every canonical opening play does one of these three things, and the ones at the top of the rankings often do two.

Non-double rolls (15)

3-1 — Make the 5-point

8/5, 6/5. The single best opening roll in the game. Builds the 5-point — your golden point — immediately. There is no debate; play it without thinking.

6-1 — Make the bar-point

13/7, 8/7. Builds the 7-point, which is the second-most valuable point in the early game. A near-best opening.

4-2 — Make the 4-point

8/4, 6/4. Builds the 4-point. The third made-point opening — together with 3-1 and 6-1, these three define the strong opening rolls.

5-3 — Make the 3-point

8/3, 6/3. Builds the 3-point. Some experts split here as 13/8, 13/10, building a builder for the 5-point next turn, but modern bot analysis has settled on the made point.

6-5 — Lover's leap

24/13. Run a single back checker the full distance to the midpoint. Removes one of the two back checkers from the danger zone. The cleanest application of the "run" goal.

6-4 — Run or split

24/18, 13/9 is the modern preference: split the back checkers and drop a builder on the 9-point. Older texts recommend running 24/14, but split-and-builder has graded better in computer rollouts.

6-2 — Run the back checker

13/5 brings a checker to the 5-point edge — sometimes called a running play. Alternatively, 24/18, 13/11 if you prefer to split. Both are close in equity.

6-3 — Split or run

24/18, 13/10. Split the back checkers and drop a builder. The pure run 24/15 is acceptable but slightly weaker.

5-4 — Builder on the 3-point

13/8, 24/20 is the modern best — split to the 20-point and bring down a builder. The older 13/8, 13/9 is fine but slightly inferior.

5-2 — Split

13/11, 24/22. Split the back checkers, build a builder. Among the weaker opening rolls, this play minimises the damage.

5-1 — Split

13/8, 24/23. Bring a builder down and split a single pip. Modern preference is split-and-builder over the older 24/23, 23/18 runs.

4-3 — Builder, builder

13/10, 13/9 (the double-build) is the canonical play. Two builders on the points your opponent fears most.

4-1 — Split

13/9, 24/23. A weak opening roll. Split is the least bad play. Some players prefer 24/23, 13/9 instead — both are equivalent.

3-2 — Build

13/11, 13/10. Two builders. With 3-2 you cannot make a point, so the goal becomes "place builders so the next roll has options."

2-1 — Slot the 5-point

13/11, 24/23 or, more aggressively, 13/11, 6/5 — slotting the 5-point with a single checker, daring your opponent to hit. Modern rollouts marginally prefer the split, but slotting the 5-point with 2-1 is one of the most famous plays in backgammon literature and remains a respectable choice.

Double rolls (6)

Doubles are entirely different — you have four moves of the same value, which lets you make multiple points at once. They flip the early game wide open.

6-6 — Make two points

24/18(2), 13/7(2). Make the 18-point (the opponent's bar-point) and your own bar-point, all on move one. The strongest opening double.

5-5 — Make the 3-point

13/3(2). Two checkers from the midpoint to the 3-point. Slow but solid.

4-4 — Make the 5- and 9-points (or the 24-point split)

Modern rollouts prefer 24/20(2), 13/9(2) — split to the 20-point with two checkers and drop two builders on the 9. Older sources recommend 13/9(2), 24/20(2) (same play, different order).

3-3 — Make the 5- and 21-points

24/21(2), 13/10(2) is the modern best — split to the 21-point and drop builders. The classic 8/5(2), 13/10(2) (making the 5-point) is also strong; it depends on stylistic preference.

2-2 — Make the 4- and 11-points

13/11(2), 6/4(2). Make the 4-point and drop two builders. Excellent opening double.

1-1 — Make the 5- and 7-points

8/7(2), 6/5(2). Make the bar-point AND the 5-point in a single turn — the strongest opening roll in backgammon by a wide margin. If you roll 1-1 on move one, your opponent is already in trouble.

Why these are correct

Every canonical play above has been confirmed by decades of computer analysis — from the early Gnu Backgammon and Snowie engines in the late 1990s, through TD-Gammon-derived neural nets, to modern reinforcement-learning bots that play above world-champion level. Where the bots disagreed (rare), human grandmasters and bot consensus have converged on the plays listed here.

The point is not to memorise the table. The point is that, after a few hundred games, these plays start to feel correct — you can sense the shape of a strong builder placement or the danger of leaving a back checker unsupported. The list is just a shortcut to that intuition.

Drilling the openings

The fastest way to internalise these is to play unrated bot games and force yourself to play the canonical opening on every roll for a few sessions. After about 50 games, the plays become automatic, and you can start spending your opening-move time on the response — what your opponent's reply might be, and what your second move should aim for.

If you want to verify that the dice in your practice games are honest, every roll on 6proclub is generated through a SHA-512 commit-reveal chain. You can hash the published seed yourself and confirm that nothing was tweaked between the commit and the reveal.

Five thousand years of opening moves and we are still learning. But for the first move at least, the answers are in.