How to Play Backgammon Successfully
Learning how to play backgammon successfully is probably easier to do today than in any other period of the backgammon game’s five thousand year history. We can imagine in the Ancient world the game was taught from father to son, or people learned the game by watching others play.
There were no books of backgammon rules, not least because printing had not yet been invented, but also very few people could read. Closer to our own times, the game has been, and still is learned by many schoolchildren from their friends, and backgammon clubs have become quite popular. Since the first backgammon regulations were published in the 1740’s there has been a gradual increase in the literature available about the game, and the last seventy years have seen many more guides to good play and tactics published. However, the introduction of the free backgammon game on the Web has dramatically increased the opportunities for both learning and playing the game far beyond those available previously.
The Internet backgammon sites host free practice games, where you can take on a powerful backgammon computer at various skill levels. In addition they bring together a wide range of information covering everything from basic moves and layout, to advanced backgammon tactics, backgammon gambling tips and stories of some of the most famous backgammon champions.
With all these new opportunities to learn to play backgammon via the Internet, in which areas should a new player concentrate their study? First of all, it is important to point out that this board game is widely recognized as one of the easiest to learn and so you need not fear a long period of studies awaits you.
Nevertheless, there are certain areas that repay a little time investment. For the novice player, becoming familiar with how to navigate their checkers around the twenty-four narrow triangular divisions (points) of the backgammon board must be a priority. The starting position for the checkers is soon memorized and how to move them in accordance to the dice throws is also quickly learned.
Once these basics of the game are mastered, the new learner is urged to take full advantage of all the practice opportunities online backgammon offers. The key areas the novice player needs to pay particular attention to are learning the opening moves, and the subjects of hitting and building primes.
In addition to the material available on the backgammon online sites, it is recommended to buy or borrow some of the many excellent backgammon books that give more comprehensive information on these principal areas of backgammon strategy. From these sources the reader learns, for example, that it is a good idea to try and occupy the second and third points in your home board area at the start of the play – this blocks in the two checkers that your opponent has positioned in your home board.
In addition, the backgammon literature explains where best to hit the opponent’s blots – in the opponent’s home area where these hits are the most effective. There is much more information besides available online and offline for players keen on becoming backgammon winners.
Backgammon Game Rules
The rules of backgammon have been the same for many years. Many people have been playing the game and taking the challenge of backgammon and many of them realized that the rules are quite simple and fun. This may be the reason for the increasing popularity of this game
The object of the game is move all your checkers into your own home board and then bear them off. The first player to bear off all of their checkers wins the game.
The roll of the dice indicates how many points, or pips, the player is to move his checkers. The checkers are always moved forward, to a lower-numbered point.
A checker may be moved only to an open point, one that is not occupied by two or more opposing checkers. The numbers on the two dice constitute separate moves. For example, if a player rolls 5 and 3, he may move one checker five spaces to an open point and another checker three spaces to an open point, or he may move the one checker a total of eight spaces to an open point.
A player who rolls doubles plays the numbers shown on the dice twice. A player must use both numbers of a roll if this is legally possible (and all four numbers of a double). When only one number can be played, the player must play that number. When neither number can be used, the player loses his turn.
At the end of the game, if the losing player has borne off at least one checker, he loses only the value showing on the doubling cube (one point, if there have been no doubles). However, if the loser has not borne off any of his checkers, he is gammoned and loses twice the value of the doubling cube.
Or, worse, if the loser has not borne off any of his checkers and still has a checker on the bar or in the winner's home board, he is backgammon and loses three times the value of the doubling cube.
At first all these rules may be tricky and pretty hard to remember so if you get confused just take the instructions and read them again. Anyway the more you play you’ll see that it will be really easy to remember all the rules
History of Backgammon
The Backgammon we see today didn’t start in just one day; instead the history of the game of backgammon is the outcome of a number of evolution processes over a long period of time. Along with Go and Chess, Backgammon is also considered one of the oldest games but it was more popular than the first two. In America, this game became so popular that the game board became a common sight in all homes, just like Chess.
In ancient times, different types of Game of Tables that were played on a board of 24 points where popular.
These games used to be distinguished from each other by the position of the players at the start of the game. A game similar to backgammon first appeared in the middle ages and was generally named according to the land where it was played.
For example, it was known as Shuanglu in China, Todas Tablas in Spain etc. Backgammon played in England during the Renaissance was called Irish and in France, it was popular as Toutes Tables. Historically, the game is in vogue since the 12-13 century BC. In England, Backgammon appeared in 1635.
According to Backgammon history, there is also another school of supporters who argue that the Backgammon is more than 5000 years old and dates back to the Mesopotamian culture.
This is strengthened by the occasional archeological findings of board games that are very similar to the present day Backgammon. The older variant of the game was seen both in Egyptian culture as well as Indian. Interestingly, the Romans played this game with 3 dices.
It is when the game reached Persia that they took away one dice and made it a 2-dice game. From Persia, this game gained acceptance among Anglo Saxon culture and during the Crusades, soldiers and traders began pursuing it under the name 'Tabula'.
The game was so easy to be played that even a few drawings on sand or any hard surface with small stones in place of dices would enable anyone to play it.
Although the Church tried to ban this game, it never worked out. The last attempt by the Church to put an end to the game by terming it 'the devil's folly' was thwarted by English craftsmen who developed the foldable or book-like game boards that were easy to hide.
And till this day, the Backgammon boards come in the foldable format. After a short spell during the Victorian age, the Backgammon gaming gained acceptance among Americans by early 20th century. It is in this period that the doubling cube appeared which gave freshness to the game by increasing the stakes for the winner.
Even today, Backgammon entices those who have a passion for this game. The simplicity of the game board attracts more people to it than a game of the popular Chess. Backgammon is fast-paced yet requires a gaming skill and of course a lot of luck.