Backgammon

About this board game

Backgammon is a classic two-player abstract strategy game played in about 30 minutes, combining dice-driven movement with tactical decisions and calculated risk.

Each player controls 15 checkers, moving them from their starting positions around the board and eventually off it. Dice determine the available movement on every turn, but the challenge lies in choosing the most effective way to use each roll while anticipating the possibilities available to the opponent.

• Move 15 checkers around the board and bear them off to win.
• Capture opposing checkers and force them to restart their journey.
• Evaluate risk as you plan around possible future dice rolls.
• Use the optional doubling cube to raise the stakes of the game.

The game’s history reaches back thousands of years. It may be the first game mentioned in written history, with roots traced to the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia around 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found boards in the ancient town of Ur, as well as boards from ancient Egypt, including examples from Tutankhamun’s tomb.

Across history, the game has been known by many names, including Takhteh Nard in Persia, Tabula and Alea in Rome, and Sugoroko in Japan. Its English name may come from “Bac gamen,” meaning “Back Game,” possibly referring to the re-entry of captured stones.

Often associated with the upper classes and sometimes called “The Aristocratic Game,” Backgammon was standardized in English by Edmond Hoyle in 1743. Those rules remained popular until American innovations in the 1930s.