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tom@bkgm.com

Backgammon Variants

Roll-Over

Have you ever wished, after rolling the worst possible number, that you could just pick up your dice and roll again? Or wouldn't it be fun to make your opponent take back his roll after he gets the one pair of numbers that allow him to enter and escape his lone back checker? That's the idea behind Roll-Over.

Roll-over: Once per game, each player has the option of either rolling again if he doesn't like the numbers he's thrown, or asking the opponent to roll his dice again.

You may decide to reroll your own dice any time before you pick them up. So you can try out various plays before deciding what to do. Similarly, you can wait until your opponent completes his turn before asking him to roll over.

When a player says "roll-over," the roll is cancelled and any moved checkers are restored. The player whose roll was cancelled then rolls the dice again. At this point, if the opponent still has his roll-over option, he can cancel the reroll and the dice are rolled yet again. So it is possible in rare situations for the dice to be rolled three times in one turn.

The roll-over rule brings a another decision to every roll of the game. In some games you will use this option early, in other games very late, and in some games not at all.

Roll-over marker. It is a good idea for players to start off the game with a special marker denoting their "roll-over". When a player uses his roll-over, he sacrifices the marker so there is no dispute later in the game about whether or not the roll-ver was used.

Doubling. The doubling cube is used just as in regular backgammon. Note that once a player has rolled the dice, he may not double that turn. Even if he rolls over, he must wait until his next turn to offer the cube.

Differences from Backgammon
     
  • Once per game each player may decide either to roll again or have the opponent roll again.

References

  • Charles H. Goren: Goren's Modern Backgammon Complete. Goren credits invention of this game to Richard L. Frey, though it seems likely the same game has been discovered by others.
  • John Leet: Winning Backgammon (rules page 18, strategy page 47). Leet has quite a lengthy section on the strategy of Roll-Over, a game he highly recommends.
  • Edward Colins: Posted to rec.games.backgammon.
  • Ilia Guzei: CancelGammon. Similar to Roll-Over, except you may only cancel an opponent's roll.

Backgammon Variants
Ace-Deo
Ace-Mid Switch
Acey-Deucey
American Acey-Deucey
Backgammon to Lose
Backgammon 1931 Rules
Backgammon 1969 Rules
Backgammon 1970 Rules
Blast Off
Blocking Backgammon
Chasing the Girls
Chouette
Crazy Narde
Domino Backgammon
Doublets
Duplicate Backgammon
Dutch Backgammon
Eureika
European Acey-Deucey
Fayles
Fevga
French Backgammon
Gioul
Grande Trictrac
Grasshopper
Greek Acey-Deucey
Greek Backgammon
Gul Bara
Handicap Matches
Hyper-backgammon
Irish
Jacquet
LongGammon
  Ludus Lumbardorum
Mexican Backgammon
Misere Backgammon
Moultezim
Nackgammon
Narde
Never-Finishing Game
Old English Backgammon
Pin Game
Plakoto
Plakoto Express
Poof
Portes
Propositions
Roman Backgammon
Roll-Over
Rosespring Backgammon
Russian Backgammon
Shesh Besh
Snake
Swedish Tables
Tables
Tabula
Takhteh
Tapa
Tavla
Tavli
Tawula
Tourne-case
Trictrac
Turkish Backgammon
Two Rolls versus Choice

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