<\/a><\/p>\n

I love Quora. Great questions and answers from experts (usually).<\/p>\n

Today I answered a Quora backgammon question, the first I’ve seen:<\/p>\n

What are the best dices for the first player which begins a backgammon game during his\/her first turn: 3:3, 4:4 or 6:6? Why?<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Here was my answer:<\/em><\/p>\n

According to the rules of backgammon, the first player to move does not have doubles. The first player has 15 possible dice rolls: 2\u20131, 3\u20131, 4\u20131, 5\u20131, 6\u20131, 3\u20132, 4\u20132, 5\u20132, 6\u20132, 4\u20133, 5\u20133, 6\u20133, 5\u20134, 6\u20134, and 6\u20135.<\/p>\n

So I will answer this question as which is the best doubles to roll for the response to an opening move by the second player.<\/p>\n

It depends.<\/p>\n

In most cases, 6\u20136 is best because it puts the second player ahead in the race. Backgammon is ultimately a racing game. But sometimes a better game plan earlier on is priming or attacking.<\/p>\n

Here are the exceptions to 6\u20136 being the best roll, which occur when you can send one or more checkers to the bar:<\/p>\n

If the first player placed one checker on the 21-point, 2\u20132 is the best roll.<\/p>\n

If the first player placed one checker on the 20-point or ran a back checker to the 18-point (with 6\u20133 or 5\u20134), 3\u20133 is the best roll.<\/p>\n

If the first player rolled a 6\u20131 and made the 7-point (a\/k\/a bar point) or ran a back checker to the 17-point, 4\u20134 is the best roll.<\/p>\n

If the first player placed one checker on the 22-point, 5\u20135 is the best roll.<\/p>\n

For a game that takes 5 minutes to learn, it can get complicated in a hurry: Even the opening roll plays vary depending on match score.<\/p>\n

You may be looking for rules to apply. If so, there are good ones that you may search for and learn: Kleinman and Trice for racing decisions; PRAT, O\u2019Hagan\u2019s Law, and Woolsey\u2019s Law for doubling decisions; and Magriel\u2019s Bold vs Safe criteria for mid-game checker play decisions.<\/p>\n

Backgammon on Quora! Any more questions?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love Quora. Great questions and answers from experts (usually). Today I answered a Quora backgammon question, the first I’ve seen: What are the best dices for the first player which begins a backgammon game during his\/her first turn: 3:3, 4:4 or 6:6? Why? Here was my answer: According to the rules of backgammon, the … <\/p>\n

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