Backgammon: do you have to use both dice? The five move rules beginners argue about

Short answer: yes, if you can. In backgammon you must use both numbers of your roll whenever there is any legal way to do it, and all four moves when you roll doubles. If only one number can be played, you play that one; if either could be played but not both, you must play the larger. If nothing can be played, your turn simply passes. PocketPlay's Backgammon table enforces exactly this, so the move you wanted is sometimes greyed out for a reason.

This is a practical guide to the dice rules beginners argue about most, checked on 8 October 2026 against the rules text and move logic on PocketPlay's own backgammon page, and against the standard rules published at bkgm.com. Where our table differs from a full tournament game, we say so.

The questions people actually ask

We ran Google's public autocomplete (United States, English) for "backgammon do you have to" on 8 October 2026. It suggested, among others:

• "backgammon do you have to use both dice"
• "backgammon do you have to move if you can"
• "in backgammon do you have to move the larger number first"
• "when bearing off in backgammon do you have to roll the exact number"
• "in backgammon do you get to roll again after doubles"

That is a list of questions, not a measure of how many people ask them. Each section below answers one.

Rule 1: use both dice whenever there is a legal way

The standard rules say: "A player must use both numbers of a roll if this is legally possible (or all four numbers of a double)."

The key word is possible, not convenient. If you roll 6-2 and the only way to play both numbers is to break up a point you wanted to keep, you still have to play both. You choose which legal combination to play; you do not get to play only one number because the second move is unpleasant.

PocketPlay's table checks this for you. It looks at every legal order of your dice, finds the sequences that use the most dice, and only lets you start with a move that belongs to one of them. If a checker you tap won't move, that is usually why: moving it first would leave the other number unplayable.

Rule 2: if only one number can be played, it must be the larger

Sometimes a roll can be used one way or the other, but not both. Say you roll 5-3: you can play the 5, or you can play the 3, but whichever you play first blocks the other. The rule here is specific:

"When only one number can be played, the player must play that number. Or if either number can be played but not both, the player must play the larger one."

So in that 5-3 position you play the 5. PocketPlay's page states the same rule — "the higher die when only one of two different dice can be played" — and the move list follows it: when only one die can be used and the dice differ, it keeps only the moves that use the higher die, if any exist.

This is also the honest answer to "do you have to move the larger number first?" No, not in general. When both numbers can be played, you can play them in either order. The larger-number rule only applies when you can't play both.

Rule 3: doubles give four moves, not an extra roll

Roll 4-4 and you have four 4s to play, split between checkers however you like. The standard rules: "A player who rolls doubles plays the numbers shown on the dice twice." If not all four can be played, you play as many as you can.

You do not roll again after doubles. That rule belongs to other dice games. On PocketPlay, a double fills your move list with four copies of the number, and the turn passes to your opponent once they are used or no more can be played.

Rule 4: the bar comes first

A single checker on a point is a blot. If your opponent lands on it, it goes to the bar. While you have a checker on the bar, you can't move anything else: your first obligation is to enter it into your opponent's home board, on a point matching one of your dice that is not held by two or more opposing checkers.

If neither number lets you enter, you lose the turn. PocketPlay's page puts it in one line: "Enter from the bar before any other move; blocked points cannot be entered." On our table, when nothing can be played, the turn passes to the other side.

Rule 5: bearing off — exact, or higher if nothing is behind

Once all fifteen of your checkers are in your home board, you can start taking them off. The standard rules:

1. Roll the number of the point a checker is on, and you can bear that checker off.
2. If there is no checker on that point, you must make a legal move with a checker on a higher point.
3. If there are no checkers on higher points, you may — and must — bear off from the highest point you occupy.

So the answer to "do you have to roll the exact number?" is not always. A 6 can bear off a checker from your 4-point if your 5- and 6-points are empty. What you can't do is use a 6 to take a checker off the 4-point while a checker still sits on the 5-point; you have to move that one instead.

Bearing off is also optional when another legal move exists. The standard text says a player "is under no obligation to bear off if he can make an otherwise legal move."

PocketPlay's version: "Bear off after all checkers reach the home board; exact or legal overshoot is required." Its move logic only allows an overshoot when no checker of yours sits on a higher point of the home board, which matches the standard rule.

How PocketPlay's table differs from a club game

We read the rules text on the page and the move code it loads. As of 8 October 2026:

So our table is the core race-and-hit game without the cube. If you learned with a cube, everything on the board works the same; there is just no doubling decision before your roll.

A two-minute drill to learn the dice rules

Open a practice game against the clearly marked practice bot and do this for a few turns:

1. Before you touch a checker, say out loud whether both numbers can be played.
2. If the table won't let you make the move you wanted, ask: does this move leave the other number unplayable?
3. When you roll doubles, count your four moves before you start.
4. In the bear-off, check the higher points before you try to use a big number on a low checker.

After ten turns, the greyed-out moves stop feeling like bugs and start telling you something.

FAQ

Do you have to move if you can in backgammon? Yes. If any legal move exists for your dice, you must play it. Only when nothing can be played does your turn pass.

Can I choose to play only one die? Not if both can be played. You choose which legal moves to make, but you must use as many dice as the position allows.

Do you get to roll again after doubles? No. Doubles give you four moves of that number, then your turn ends.

Is there a doubling cube on PocketPlay? Not as of 8 October 2026. The game is won by bearing off all fifteen checkers first.

Sources and limits

Rules quotations come from bkgm.com's "Rules of Backgammon" and from the rules text on PocketPlay's backgammon page, both read on 8 October 2026. Our description of how the table enforces moves comes from reading the game's published browser code that day; if the table changes, this article will be updated. Earlier guides on this site covered nine men's morris and oware's feeding rule.