Backgammon Articles

History of Backgammon Variations Backgammon Humor

 

	History of Backgammon
	Tabula By Wadyslaw Jan Kowalski. Tabula is the Roman ancestor of backgammon. Tabula bears some similarity to the Egyptian game Senet, which dates back to at least 3000 BCE. Here is a brief history of tabula.
	The Game of Senet By Catherine Soubeyrand. Senet is an Egyptian race game and may be the ancestor of modern backgammon. We know of this game through ancient Egyption boards that have survived to this day.
	History of Backgammon By Oswald Jacoby and John Crawford. One of the most extensive histories of backgammon appears in Jacoby Crawford's The Backgammon Book (1970). This is the text from the Introduction of that book and was prepared by Michael Crane. Alt link: History of Backgammon
	History of Backgammon By Joy Lee Barnhart. A brief history of the game from the online manual of Bob's Backgammon.
	Backgammon History By Martin Short. A quick history of backgammon from its origins in Mesopotamia to modern day with the Internet, backgammon servers, and neural-net backgammon programs.
	Backgammon History and Useful Information By James Masters. A history of backgammon and backgammon-type games with pictures of modern-day versions of the games.
	Games of the Viking and Anglo-Saxon Age By Kim Siddorn. A description of dice and board games from the time of the Anglo-Saxons. Several nice pictures.
	History Of Backgammon By Michael Strato. Backgammon is said to be the oldest game in recorded history. Its origin stems from a board game that was first played about 5000 years ago in Ur of the Chaldees in Mesopotamia. This brief history of the game is from the demo issue of GammonVillage.
	Backgammon History Articles on the history of backgammon which have been posted to the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.
	Backgammon Variations
	Backgammon Variants By Tom Keith. There are dozens wonderful games you can play on a backgammon board, ranging from simple games for children to very elaborate games. Here are rules for many of the most popular ones.
	Tavli (Greek Backgammon) By Vassilis Condos and Ioannis Christodoulou. An description of the rules of the Greek games of plakoto and fevga. There is also an explanation of the different Greek terms.
	Rules and Strategy for Greek Backgammon By Tore Jorgus. Introduction to the strategy for various forms of Greek backgammon. The game referred to as "The Jail" appears to be the Greek game plakoto. And the game referred to as "The Double One" appears to be the Greek game giul.
	Acey Deucey By Master Games. Acey Deucey is a variation of backgammon in which the roll of 1 and 2 (acey-deucey) allows a player to play the doubles of his choice and then roll again. The article gives a brief explanation of the rules of the game.
	The Trictrac Home Page By David Levy. Trictrac is a rich, formal game that was immensely popular in French society prior to the revolution. Many books refer to Trictrac only as the French name for backgammon. True Trictrac is a different game. The mechanics are similar to backgammon but one difference is that the player claims points as a result of the throw before moving checkers. Another is that doubles are played twice, rather than four times as in backgammon.
	Backgammon Variants Edited by Mark Damish. Backgammon variants from the Backgammon FAQ. Variants described include: acey-deucy, one-point matches, hyper-backgammon, nackgammon, chebache, tapa, narde, gul bara, feuga, and diceless backgammon.
	Two Worlds Collide: Casual and Formal Backgammon By Mark Driver. The aim of this article is to illustrate two major distinctions within the wider backgammon community, namely casual and formal play.
	Tavla in Turkey By Michael Crane.
	Backgammon Variations Rules to acey-deucey, "backwards play", domino gammon, duodecagammon, duplicate backgammon, feuga, Jacquet, longgammon, Mexican, misere, nuclear backgammon, pass-or-pick a roll, plakoto, roll over, Russian, sudden death, trictrac, and others which have been collected from the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.
	Backgammon Humor
	Give Me a Break—Give It a Number By Phil Simborg and Stu Katz. "We got sick of hearing our friends tell us about how they lost a game that 'just couldn't be lost,' so we developed a code to save time."
	A Coin Toss By Phil Simborg. "I pull out a coin and say, 'Heads I take, tails I drop.' The crowd goes crazy, and Jake is of course a visibly perturbed" ... Oh, the fun you can have with the flip of a coin.
	Fifteen Ways to Irritate Your Opponent By Phil Simborg. We all know that an irritated, distracted opponent will play worse. Here's some "advanced" tips for you. (Use with caution.)
	Simborg's Laws of Backgammon By Phil Simborg. You don't have to play backgammon long before you realize there are certain unwritten rules of the game that every player should be aware of.
	The Ten Commandments of Backgammon By Morten Wang. "Remember the tournament day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou read thy theory, and play for money, but the seventh day is the tournament day." These are the laws of backgammon you simply must follow.
	My Bumpy Life in Backgammon By Ric Gerace. "How I found backgammon, or how it found me, and how I lost the girl, and then another girl, and oh, hell, it's been fun without them anyway."
	Fun and Frustration Some humorous articles about backgammon that have been posted to the rec.games.backgammon newsgroup.

Copyright © 1996-2006 by Tom Keith