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 the first to 'bear off', that is, to move all fifteen of their checkers off the board.
The game of backgammon has been around for almost five thousand years and is the oldest known recorded game in history. The game of backgammon is believed to have originated in Mesopotamia in the Persian empire of the present day Iran, Iraq and Syria, in the culture of Ur around 3,000 BC. Backgammon type games have been played for thousands of years in all parts of the world. The game was typically played on surfaces such as wood using stones as markers and dice made from bones, stones, wood or pottery. Backgammon can be traced back to thousands of years BC to board games played by the Egyptians, Sumerians, Romans and Persians - archaeological digs still continue to turn up board games very similar to today's game of backgammon.
Gaming boards of 3 x 10 squares have been found extensively in ancient Egyptian archaeological sites. The game was known to the ancient Egyptians as The Game of Thirty Squares, or Senet (also referred to as Senat). The exact rules of this game are not known.
In 500 BC backgammon was also popular among the Greeks with Homer, Sophocles and Plato mentioning the game in their works.
In Asia, the game of Nard appeared prior to 800 AD in southwest Asia or Persia and variants of this early form of backgammon are played today throughout the continent. Nard was the Persian name for wood product like the board on which it was played. The board represents a year. Each side contains twelve points to mirror the twelve months of the year. The twenty-four points represent the twenty-four hours in a day, the thirty checkers represent the days in a month, the sun of the opposing sides of the die represent the seven days of the week and the contrasting colours of each set of checkers represent day and night.
The Romans left a great deal of evidence of a game they called Ludos Duodecim Scriptorum, the game of the twelve lines, which was possible derived from the Egyptian Senet. It is believed the game came to Britain with the Roman Conquest in the 1st Century. The first mention of the game in English print was in The Codex Exoniensis published in 1025 "These two shall sit at tables." Tables was brought to England by men returning from the Crusades. The game was played throughout Europe during the middle ages and became very popular in English Taverns. The church attempted to outlaw the game a few times but was always unsuccessful. The last attempt to outlaw backgammon in England was sometime during the early 16th Century - Cardinal Woolsey ordered all boards burnt and declared the game 'The Devil's Folly' but English craftsmen quickly came up with the idea to fold the boards in half in a book-like arrangement and thus managed to cleverly disguise the boards. This folded design is the standard way in which backgammon sets are made to this day.
There is a certain amount of debate concerning the origins of the name of backgammon. It is unclear whether the term backgammon is derived from the Welsh 'back' (meaning little) and 'gammon' (meaning battle - hence little battle) or from the Saxon 'bac' (back) 'gamen' (game - hence back game).
In the early 17th Century following some modifications to the rules, backgammon underwent a revival and swept across Europe under a variety of different names. It is also believed that it was during the 17th Century that Britain introduced backgammon to the United States.
More recently, the popularity of backgammon increased during the 1960's thanks to the efforts of Prince Alexis Obelensky who organised and promoted tournaments and the first official World Championships in the Bahamas which has become backgammon's highest honour. The 1970's have frequently been described as backgammons 'heyday' as it saw huge increases in popularity, publicity, tournaments and backgammon literature including books, magazines and newspaper columns. It moved from the upper to middle classes and was popular among the younger generation as well. The 1980's however, saw a decline in popularity again mostly among the younger generation due to the invention of video games which to many seemed more exciting than the traditional game of backgammon. The 1990's saw a revival in backgammon thanks to the computer revolution and the introduction of computer backgammon.
The simple set up of the board and stones of backgammon are easier to learn than chess yet takes more attention than checkers. It's a fast paced game mixed with chance and has kept adults and children entertained for thousands of years. There is no doubt that this challenging game will be around for many more years to come.
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