Backgammon has a fascinating history that dates back to more than 5000 years ago. Backgammon is the most ancient board game in the world, and has remained popular for thousands of years. A large variety of games have been linked as variations of backgammon, and the exact origin of the game is not certain. Anyway, it's interesting to follow the history of backgammon that brought it to the success the game enjoys today.

 

The Earliest History of Backgammon

The earliest version that predates backgammon was called senat and was played in ancient Egypt by the pharos. This ancient board game was found during the excavation of Ur of the Chaldees, and is included in what are called the royal games of Ur. Other Senat boards were founds in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), in excavations during the 1920's. Boards were also found in King Tutankhamen's tomb in the valley of the Nile. These boards bear resemblance to the modern backgammon boards and are made of wood. The checkers used for the game were made of stone. The discovery of these boards helped understand more about the backgammon history in the past.

 

Backgammon is one of many dice games. The first use of dice originates from primitive times when the animal bones were used as dice for predicting the future and calling ghosts by tribe priests. Later the same dice were adopted by people, who used them for gambling and betting on their outcomes. The reason the 6 faced dice are used is because this is the optimal shape for rolling dice. Another historical Egyptian backgamon game is the Game of Twenty Squares, which was found several times next to senat boards in excavations in Egypt. The exact rules for the senat game and other similar games remain obscured.

 

The actual name for backgammon comes from either the Saxon meaning of back game("baec"-back, "gamen"- game) or from a Welsh term meaning a small battle("bac" or "bach"- little, "gammon" or "cammaun"- battle).

 

Roman History of Backgammon

The Romans developed a game similar to backgammon and was known by three different names:

 

Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum - "The Game of 12 Lines", which had a similarity to the modern backgammon game.The game had leather boards and sets of 30 markers, and was set as 3*12 lines.

Tabula - This game followed Ludus Doudecim Scriptorum and is considered another advancement in backgammon history. It had 2x12 lines and was called Tabula because of the way it was played upon a table board. The game came to Britain with the Roman conquest in the 1st Century. It was played by such roman aristocrats as Claudius and was later branded illegal throughout the Roman empire.

Alea - The next evolution of backgammon in history, and the first game which very much resembled modern backgammon. The meaning of the game is "the art of gambling with dice", and it was played since the 6th Century AD.

Another Influence on Backgammon History

By 800 A.D. a backgammon-like game named Nard had reached Asia and the Persian empire. The name was derived from the Persian name for wood from which the backgammon board was made of. The game became popular in China under the name T’Shu-p’u and in Japan where it was called Sugoroku. The game arrived in Europe through Arab occupation of Italy, and became widespread over the continent. The change that the Arab Nard brought to Backgammon was the use of 2 dice instead of 3 dice in games like Tabula.

 

First Written Backgammon History

The first mention of the Backgammon game in British History was in The Codex Exoniensis dating back to 1025, where it was called Tables. Tables was probably brought to England by men returning from the Crusades. The first written set of rules for Backgammon were written in 1743 by Edmond Hoyle, who wrote the Treatise on Backgammon, the first official set of modern rules in Backgammon history. Hoyle's rules determined in many ways how to play backgammon today.

 

the Modern History of Backgammon

Modern backgammon was changed in 1920 when the doubling cube was introduced in New York. The cube enhanced the element of skill in backgammon which in turn increased the popularity of the game. At that time it was popular mainly around the upper class and was played at various salons and clubs. In 1931 backgammon rules were changed to the version that is used today, and since then the history of backgammon game has known ups and downs in its popularity.

 

Since 1967 Backgammon has had an annual World Championship, that is held every year in Monte Carlo. After this, during the 1970, the game has shown the biggest proliferation in backgammon history with a lot of literature written concerning the game's various aspects. The game also became more popular through different classes and age groups.

 

Computers and the Internet Enter Into Backgammon History

Since the development of computers and the internet, Backgammon has grown it's popularity immensely, and today it is played by millions worldwide. During the 90's, IBM wrote a software which could teach itself how to play backgammon using Neural Networking creating a world class player in TD-Gammon.

 

"FIBS" (First Internet Backgammon Server) was created in 1993 by Andreas Schneider and hosted on an academic computer in Sweden for free. It featured many players which could play online Backgammon all at the same time.

 

"Jellyfish"- The first commercial neural network of online backgammon software was made during the 90's, a software which could assign equity values to any position and rollout positions.

 

"Snowie"- Another online backgammon software that was developed after Jellyfish and had a more easy to use interface and the ability to import and analyze matches.

 

Similar to chess, backgammon is also a game where the best players are computer users. The game requires a sharp analytical ability and a fine eye for detail. The online backgammon world has given backgammon a popularity which has never been known before in all it's 5000 years of backgammon history, and has continued to add changes to the game, adding to the history of development and evolution of Backgammon.

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 probably brought to England by men returning from the Crusades. Nard or Tables was played throughout Europe during the middle ages and became very popular in English Taverns, although Chess overtook it as the more popular game in the fifteenth century. By the end of the sixteenth century, Tables had, for some reason, become a generic term for any game played on a flat surface or table.

 

Like many games played for money, it became unpopular with the authorities in England and, until the reign of Elizabeth I, laws prohibiting the playing of Tables in licensed establishments were in force. In the early seventeenth century, however, following some modifications to the rules, the game underwent a revival and it swept across Europe again under a variety of different names which have mostly stayed the same until today.

 

It is a subject of debate as to whether the term Backgammon is derived from the Welsh 'back' (little) and 'gammon' (battle) or from the Saxon 'bac' (back) 'gamen' (game).

 

Backgammon underwent another revival before the first World War but waned during the middle of the twentieth century only to recover again in the 1970s to become the popular game it is today. It is still widely played in the Middle East as Tric-trac.

 

There are a whole family of variants: Chouette (3 or 4 player version), Partnership backgammon, Sixey-Acey, Dutch Backgammon, Turkish Backgammon (Moultezim), Greek Backgammon (Plakato), Gioul (from the Middle East), Acey Deucey (US Forces version of Dutch Backgammon), European Acey Deucey, Russian Backgammon, Tabard Backgammon and Icelandic Backgammon (Kotra).

 

Like playing Backgammon? Check our online casinos for a selection of various games, including Backgammon.

 

 

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