Backgammon is one of the oldest known games, if not the oldest. Backgammon is a board game for two players. Each player has fifteen pieces (checkers or men) which move between twenty-four triangles (points) according to the roll of two dice. The objective of the game is to be first to bear off, that is, to move all fifteen checkers off the board. Throughout history, backgammon has been known as a game played by royalty or nobles. However, in many cultures it was played by all classes of society.

Backgammon is often played for money stakes. The most common ways that gamblers play is to set a wager on which player can be first to reach a certain number of points, achieved over however many games necessary; to assign a dollar value to each point, and to play until a certain number of points is reached or passed; or to assign a dollar value to each point and play games until either player chooses to stop. Backgammon is also available, though not often, at casinos.

What is becoming ever more popular is to play tournament backgammon where for a small initial buyin, you can go on and win large sums of money. Check the Top Backgammon Sites where you can play backgammon online for real money or for fun.

HISTORY OF BACKGAMMON

Backgammon is the oldest known recorded game. Traditionally, it was believed to have originated in ancient Egypt, Sumeria, or Mesopotamia in the Persian empire (present-day Iran). However, more recent conclusive evidence indicates that the game originated on the eastern borders of Iran, near Afghanistan.(e.g.) The Iranian chancellor and thinker of the Sassanid Empire Bozorgmehr is said to have created the ancient version of the game. Another version of the game is more than 1,600 years old. It was known in Persia and the Near East as "Takhteh Nard", meaning "Battle on Wood" and was introduced to Europe by the Arabs. The board had 24 points, 30 playing pieces and a pair of dice.

Another view of its origin argue that Backgammon stems from a version of this board game that was first played about 5,000 years ago in Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia. In Greek, Mesopotamia means "between rivers". The Tigris and Euphrates rivers bordered this area situated just north of the Persian Gulf in present day Iraq and Kuwait. Between 2900-1800 BC, early civilizations of a very diverse people lived in these fertile valleys. Ur, also known as the home of the Biblical Abraham, was an important city of the Sumerian culture. The Sumerians are credited with many notable cultural and scientific achievements, some of which were the invention of the wheel, a math system including early concepts in algebra and geometry, and the world's first written language.

Between 1922 and 1934, British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley uncovered treasures in a joint expedition by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum. It was a spectacular discovery; the royal tombs at Ur revealed the Sumerian culture at its peak. In the enormous wealth of treasure unearthed, there is mention of "an inlaid gaming board", this being the oldest known Backgammon board! Four other gaming boards were found in these tombs.

In English, the word backgammon is believed to be derived from "back" plus the Middle English word "gamen" (game).

Tabula was a form of backgammon played by the ancient Romans. It was called tabula, which means 'table' or 'board', since it was played on a special board. Tabula bears some similarity to Egyptian Senet, which dates back to at least 3000 BCE.

The game of Tabula was similar to modern-day Backgammon in that the same board was used with fifteen pieces alloted to each player with the object of the game being to be the first to bear off all fifteen pieces. It differed in that the game began with no pieces on the board so that these first had to be entered by the roll of the dice. Likewise, three dice were used instead of two. Finally, both players entered the board from the same table and moved around the board in the same counterclockwise direction.

The ancient Egyptians played a form of the game on a board of 3 X 10 squares called the "Game of Thirty Squares" or Senet. The Romans played a game called Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum or "the Game of Twelve Lines", and later called it tabula, meaning table or flat board.

In England, during the Middle Ages, the game was referred to as 'Tables', in Italy 'Tavola Reale', in Spain 'Tablas Reales', both meaning "Royal Tables". Even in Greece today it is called 'Tavli'. The game in China was called T'shu-p'u, the Japanese called it 'Sugoroko', and both were played on circular boards. The Germans call it 'Puff' and the French 'Le Trictrac', probably because of the sound the dice make when rattled in a cup.

The name Backgammon became known around the mid-seventeenth century when the Saxons called it the "bac" (back) "gamen" (game) since the checkers when hit go "back" and have to re-enter the "game".

In certain societies, backgammon was outlawed. In Japan, during the reign of Empress Jito, it was illegal. In England, in the time of Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey commanded all boards to be destroyed by fire. To continue playing, the English crafted backgammon boards inside hollow books to look inconspicuous.

The "Libro de Juegos" or "Book of Games" of King Alfonso X (1251-1282) of Castille, contained 15 variations of the game. Backgammon has appeared in all kinds of writings from the past, those of Plato and Sophocles and in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, just to mention a few.

The British writer on games, Edmond Hoyle, codified the rules of backgammon in 1745 and for almost two centuries the strategy he recommended remained standard. Hoyle's "A Short Treatise On the Game of Back-Gammon" can be read in its entirety at this link on GammonVillage. These rules were modified in 1931 in the United States, probably having to do with the introduction of the doubling cube around 1925 by a person who today, still remains unknown.

Sometime between the late 60's and early 70's there was a widespread surge in the popularity of the game. The combination of strategy and chance with the ability to use the cube as a double-edged sword, is why this is known as "The Cruelest of Games".

Finally, today, the history of backgammon is taking yet another turn. With the invention of the computer and subsequently, the Internet, people from all over the world can meet and play with each other from the comfort of their homes on a number of commercially available backgammon servers. Computer programs such as Snowie and Jellyfish, often referred to as robots or 'bots', can now be used by every level of player to learn and practice with.