Backgammon is a well-liked traditional board game that involves counters and dice on board tables. It is a prominent Western game among various table games with origins tracing back almost 5,000 years to Mesopotamia and Persia. Played by two individuals, the goal is to strategically move all your checkers clockwise around the board and ultimately remove them from the board.
How to play
Backgammon is played on a board with twenty-four narrow triangles known as points, grouped into four sets of six triangles each. Players agree on a stake per point at the beginning of the game. At any point, a player with an advantage can suggest doubling the stakes. If the losing player has not removed any checkers, they are gammoned and lose double the doubling cube’s value. In a more severe scenario, if the losing player has not removed any checkers and still has a checker on the bar or in the home board of the winner, they are backgammoned and lose triple the value of the doubling cube.
Backgammon – FAQ’s
How to play backgammon?
- Backgammon is a two-player game where each player moves pieces around a board by rolling two dice to determine the distance their pieces can move in a single turn. The winner is the first player to move all their pieces around and off the board.
Why was backgammon prohibited?
- The game persisted into the late stages of the previous millennium, facing ongoing opposition from authorities and the church due to its gambling aspect. Despite these challenges, its popularity endured into the Victorian era and it remained a favourite at weekend gatherings in country houses.
What are the fundamental rules of backgammon?
- Both dice must be rolled simultaneously and come to rest flat on the right-hand side of the board. If a die lands outside this area, on a checker, or does not land flat, both dice must be rolled again. A player’s turn ends when they pick up their dice.