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The ancient history of backgammon

Written by Pai Yao

This article first appeared in the Jul/Aug 2010 issue of World Gaming magazine.

Backgammon is a game that many Asian people have not have discovered yet. The game has been passed down through many millennia and today not only survives but thrives. In future issues we will tell you how to play and bet on the game but let’s concentrate now on how this game came to be one of the most popular board games in the world.

In gaming circles there is controversy when it comes to the history and even the actual name of many games. Backgammon is no different and its history is clouded in even more controversy than normal because you have to dig back to the roots of civilisation to find its beginnings. The only thing that is agreed upon is that the game has been around for over 5,000 years and it’s the oldest board game that humans still play today.

One claim suggests that the game originated in Mesopotamia (modern day Syria, Iran and Iraq). Archaeological digs turned up a board, checkers and dice in Iran and similar archaeological digs have turned up similar boards and accessories in Ancient Egypt. Where we start to get written proof of the game is from the Roman and Byzantine Empires that had a game that required players to throw dice and remove their checkers off the board at the end of the game to win. There were also suggestions that citizens of the Empires gambled heavily on the game.

A few hundred years after the Roman Empire crumbled the game headed east but only as far as the eastern Persian Empire. The game started to appear in Europe in the 11th century. It is not really clear how the game travelled into Europe but eastern merchants are the most likely candidates. Both French and English aristocracy tried to ban their subjects from playing the game but by the 16th century the word ‘backgammon’ had made its way into the Oxford English Dictionary and was widely played throughout Europe.

The 20th century saw three major developments in the game. At the start of the century the doubling cube was invented by a Russian noble, the Grand Duke Dmitri. It is thought that he probably did this so he could win more money off his unsuspecting rich friends. This changed the game dramatically and we will discuss this when we talk about backgammon’s gaming aspect in a later article.

Secondly, the 1970s and 1980s saw the game enjoy a resurgence of popularity which could easily be compared to the poker craze of the 21st century. It became a cool and hip game for university students and young socialites to play over a pint of bitter. The third major development was when the computer age allowed people to play the game against their computers and then online against players from all over the world for enjoyment and money.

If you are a fan of board games then you are sure to enjoy the nuances of the game of backgammon. We will show you how to play and gamble on the game in later issues.