Backgammon is a easy board game requiring two players, played using chequers and dice. It is believed to have originated in Mesopotamia over 4,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest games in the world.
A backgammon board is made up of 24 triangles, alternating in colour, called points. The points are arranged in four groups of 6 with each player having a inner board and an outer board, separated down the middle by the bar.
In the most basic form, backgammon is simply an obstacle race between two players with added elements of skill, strategy and luck. Each player begins the game with 15 chequers, and the first player to remove their chequers from the board (known as "bearing off") is the winner.
The game of backgammon is not difficult to learn. Nonetheless, it can become quite competitive and a number of strategies can be put into place to help ensure victory. Backgammon experts agree there are a few strategies that can help a person win a game, but those strategies must be learned and manipulated throughout the course of playing the game. Some of the strategies include learning how to build a "wall" of game pieces, "closing" the home board, and placing "anchors" in particular spots on the board.
It is common for a typical backgammon game to be very short, lasting only a few minutes. Because of this, players often decide to play a number of rounds of the game in one sitting. In this case, players keep score of the number of games won, playing until one player wins the predetermined number of games. |
