The Rules Center

At no point during play may a single point on the board hold more than five checkers of the same color. A point occupied by five checkers is considered sealed — a sixth checker of the same color may never land there.

This rule breaks the traditional stalemate of stacked prime positions. It forces distribution, rewards forward motion, and turns defensive turtling into an impossibility.

If a legal move would place a sixth checker on a point, that move is forbidden. The player must select a different legal move. If no legal move exists that respects the cap, the turn is forfeit.

Both players roll a single die simultaneously. The player showing the highest value wins the opening roll and plays first, using both dice as their opening move.

In the event of a tie, both players roll again until a winner emerges.

Uniquely to the Rebel Rule: the winner of the opening roll may — once, and only once, before making their first move — decline the roll and request a single reroll of both dice. This is called invoking the rebel.

If the winner invokes the rebel, the opponent unlocks the same privilege on their own first turn: when they roll their first two dice they may keep them or re-roll both once before moving. If the winner kept the opening roll, the opponent simply plays what they roll. The same applies when the winner of the previous game opens. Rebel begets rebel; the table is even.

A player may only begin bearing off once all fifteen of their checkers occupy their home board (points 1–6 from their perspective).

In addition to the standard rule, the Rebel Rule imposes a distribution requirement: at the moment a player begins bearing off, no point in the home board may hold more than five checkers. Excess checkers must be redistributed via normal play before the first bear-off is legal.

Once bearing off has begun, the 5-Checker Cap continues to apply — checkers being borne off do not stack; they leave the board entirely.