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With some reservations, Backgammon may be called the forefather of all the modern gambling games, first of all, because of its impressive five-thousand-year history. The rules of Backgammon were introduced as early as 3,000 years BC. Despite this more than respectable age, Backgammon is still tremendously popular today, not only as any family favourite pastime, but also as a thrilling gambling game played in gaming clubs, traditional casinos, and online (to play it at an Internet casino, a special programme has to be downloaded and installed).
History of Backgammon
Throughout the five thousand years of its life, this game has been known under a lot of names and aliases including tric-trac, shesh-besh, nard, etc. This incredible variety just proves that Backgammon remains to be one of the most popular games worldwide, although it’s hardly possible to ascertain its exact origin. We do know, however, that it emerged in ancient East. A Backgammon board was recently found on the territory of what is now known as Iran. The artifact is estimated to be 5,000 years old. A Backgammon board was also discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun, an Egyptian pharaoh, who ruled nearly twenty-five hundred years ago.
In accordance with some speculations, the game was created in ancient Persia where its creation is attributed to a man named Wuzurgmihr. This sage called it ’new ardaxsir’ in honour of the founder of the then dynasty, King Ardashir I. Interestingly enough, originally Backgammon was not even considered a gambling game, but was used by the ancient astrologers as an oracle tool to foretell the future of Persian rulers.
In Persian astrology, a Backgammon board symbolized the sky, while circular moves of the checkers were seen as stars’ circling in the sky. Each component of the game had a certain symbolic meaning. Thus, the number of fields on each side of the board, 12, represented the 12 calendar months of the year; the number of checkers, 30, represented days of the month; and 7, the sum of the points on the opposite sides of a die, represented the number of planets known in ancient Persia.
However, as time went by, Backgammon lost its magical meaning, and other nations saw it just as a popular gambling game. Each culture would give it a new name. For example, in France it was called tric-trac, a word that perhaps imitates the sound made by the dice hitting the backgammon board. In Spain, the problem with finding a new name for this game was resolved quite easily. There, it became known as ’tablero’ meaning a board game. In medieval times, Backgammon became a game for the elite and was played mainly by the aristocracy. Nonetheless, common people also partook of the pleasure of playing this exciting game.
In 1743, Englishman Edmon Hoyle improved the way Backgammon was played, essentially devising its new version known as Short Backgammon. This version is still widespread today, successfully competing with the more traditional version, Long Backgammon. International tournaments on both Backgammon games are often held and offer substantial money prizes. Certainly, a company of friends or a tournament is not the only venue where Backgammon may be played, and the more popular options include casinos and backgammon clubs that can be found practically in any major city of the world.
How to play Backgammon?
Backgammon is a gambling game requiring substantial equipment. The core part of each backgammon set is a special rectangular shaped board having two sides. Each of the two sides of the board has 12 long triangular fields called ‘points.’ These points are numbered 1 through 24. Points 1-6 and points 19-24 are called ‘home.’ Another essential component of the game are checkers, 15 (or sometimes less than 15) for each player. In any Backgammon game, the players’ objective is to move their checkers into the homes. Moves are made depending on the outcome of rolling two standard dice.
Before the game actually begins, the players need to do some preliminary work, so to speak, and to determine who will make the first move in the game. To accomplish this, they roll a dice, taking turns. The player who has rolled the higher number acquires the right to make the first move. This player throws both dice and, depending on the numbers that come up on them, moves his or her checkers. The number of pips on the dice indicates the number of points by which the player can move a checker. For example, if a 3 and a 5 are rolled, the player may move one checker three points forward and another – five points forward. Alternatively, the player can move the same checker twice: first three and then five points forward. Then the second player takes his or her turn to do the same.
Both players pursue the same goal: to move all of the checkers into their home and then remove them, or bear them off, from the board. Given this task, each Backgammon game may be split into two phases. First, the players move their checkers into their home, and only then they can be borne off. In this phase other rules govern the players’ actions. They may remove a checker only if the number of pips on the dice is equal to the number assigned to the point where the checker is positioned. The player who removes his or her checkers first, is declared to be the winner.
Basic rules of Backgammon
Naturally, some rules of the game differ depending on the type of it played, it can be either Long Backgammon or Short Backgammon. However, the two versions of the game share a lot of common rules such as the rules of the checkers’ movement, and the following rules apply to both of them.
- If a player rolls a double (the same number on both dice), he or she has to play each die twice. Stated differently, the number of checkers that the player moves, doubles from 2 to 4.
- A checker must be moved exactly the same number of spaces forward as indicated on the dice, no more and no less. For example, if the player throws a 6, he or she must move a checker exactly six points forward, not 5 and not 4.
- As long as a player can move both dice, the player is mandated to do so. If because of the position of a checker, the player cannot move either die in a roll, the turn passes to the player’s opponent.
Rules of Long Backgammon
The game of Long Backgammon is characterized by a set of rules controlling the movement of pieces on the board. To begin with, Long Backgammon has the notion of ’head,’ the starting position of the checkers on the board. Accordingly, the first move is referred to as the ’head move.’ By making it, the player is allowed to move only one checker. The checkers always move counterclockwise.
The task of a Backgammon player is quite standard: to move all of his or her checkers around the board counterclockwise, so that all of them enter the opponent’s home zone. Then the checkers must be borne off from the board. All of that must be accomplished before the opponent does the same.
The opponent’s checkers may sometimes be in the way of the player’s checkers. If a field is already occupied by his or her opponent’s checkers, the player may not move onto it. Long Backgammon has a rule that prohibits to block the opponent’s checkers. However, the rule does not forbid to build some sort of a six-checker barrier obstructing the movement of the opponent’s checkers. This loophole is often taken advantage of by the experienced players if the game is played for real money. According to the rules of Long Backgammon, if a player’s checkers are blocked so that the player cannot move either die in a roll, the turn passes to the player’s opponent, who, thus, receives an advantage.
The final phase of the Long Backgammon game entails bearing off the checkers. A player is allowed to bear off a checker only if the number of pips on the dice is equal to the number assigned to the point where the checker is positioned.
Rules of Short Backgammon
Compared to Long Backgammon, Short Backgammon is considered a quicker and a more dynamic game. In addition to this, the rules used in this version of Backgammon may make the game much more complicated for the opponent.
Each of the players playing a Backgammon game has a total of 15 checkers. The main distinctive feature of Short Backgammon distinguishing it from Long Backgammon has to do with the starting position of the checkers. While in the latter version the checkers must be positioned only in one specially designated area, in the former version they are placed all over the board. This speeds up the process of the game a lot since it allows the players to move their checkers to the home zone much faster and make fewer moves. The opening position is as follows: Each player places five checkers on point 6, three checkers on point 8, five checkers on point 13, and the remaining two on point 24.
The goal of the Short Backgammon game is the same as that in Long Backgammon: to move the checkers to the home zone and to bear them off. As in Long Backgammon, the player is not allowed to move his or her checkers onto the field occupied by two or more of the opponent’s checkers.
The short version of Backgammon has a concept of ‘blot,’ a point occupied by an opponent’s single checker. While in Long Backgammon such points are considered blocked and the player’s checkers may not be moved onto them, in Short Backgammon these points serve to ‘neutralize’ the opponent’s checkers. If a player’s checker lands on a blot, the blot has been hit, and the opponent has to move his or her checker to the bar dividing the two sides of the board. As in Long Backgammon, in the concluding stage of the Short Backgammon, a player who has moved all of his or her checkers to the home zone needs to bear them off from the board. This is done according to the outcome of rolling the dice. The player who removes all of his or her checkers from the board first wins the game.
