Roll Over Backgammon Variant

There are times when Roll Over can be a Backgammon player's fantasy in the sense that even if you roll a bad number there's no harm done since you get to reroll. Another advantage of this Backgammon variant is that you can make the other player withdraw his roll when he has a great roll.

How does Roll Over differ from Backgammon?

• Every player gets 1 opportunity to reroll or make the opponent reroll.

Every Roll Over Backgammon player has the chance to reroll the dice if he's not satisfied with his numbers or request that his opponent reroll the dice - but this can only be done once.

You can choose to roll your dice again prior to picking them up, which will allow you to test different moves before you make your choice. Likewise, in this Backgammon variant, you may watch the other player finish his turn prior to requesting that he reroll.

Once one of the participants calls a roll over, he is actually calling off the roll, meaning that checkers that were moved need to be returned to their previous position. The participant that lost his roll gets to reroll. Then, in the case that the other player still hasn't made use of his chance to roll over, he may call off the reroll and the dice can be rolled once more. Thus, when playing this Backgammon variant there may be times when the dice can be rolled as many as 3 times in just 1 turn.

This rule adds the element of purpose to each dice roll. In each game you will need to decide when or if to use the roll over option. We also recommend that you indicate your roll over with a marker in order to avoid unnecessary squabbles regarding the use of the roll over, or lack thereof.

Regarding the doubling cube in Roll Over, it is utilized exactly like in a traditional Backgammon game, meaning that if you've rolled, you do not have the option of doubling that turn. In the case that you reroll, you must still hold out until your following turn in order to put the cube forward.

David Carnegy - Managing Editor