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Backgammon History
The Origins of Backgammon
Backgammon play yahoo backgammon is believed to have originated in Mesopotamia in
the Persian empire or the present day Iran, Iraq, and Syria and it is the
oldest known doubling backgammon cube recorded game in history. The game was typically played on
surfaces such as wood, using stones as markers, and dice made from bones,
stones, wood or pottery and it can be traced back thousands of years BC to
boardgames played online backgammon by the Egyptians, Sumerians, Romans, and Persians.
Artifacts Revealed
A Senat Game Board
Throughout the history of backgammon the game it has
been associated with the leaders and aristocracy of these ancient backgammon masters civilizations
as shown by excavated relics and literary references from Persia, Greece, Rome,
and the Far East. Gaming boards with 3x10, 3x12, and 3x6 squares were found in
Egypt and it was known as free backgammon the Game of Thirty Squares or Senat. backgammon These
artifacts date back backgammon to 3000-1788BC and the rules as well backgammon variety as the use of dice for
this game remain unknown. Wooden boards were found in the royal tomb of the Ur
al Chaldees, the center of Sumer dated around backgammon 2600BC along with tetrahedral
dice and are known as The Royal Games of
Ur. A set of rules backgammon table for the game played at that time was found on backgammon some
cuneiform tablet dated at about 177BC.
The Royal Game of Ur
Roman Backgammon
Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum
The Romans left evidence of a game called Ludus
Duodecim Scriptorum "The Game backgammon board setup of 12 Lines" backgammon tips with leather boards and sets
of 30 markers, 15 of ebony and 15 of ivory dating back to 600AD backgammon and is thought
to be derived from the Egyptian Senat. In the 1st Century AD Ludus Duodecim
Scriptorum was replaced by a vairant with 2x12 lines instead pogo backgammon of 3x12 lines as
it grew closer and closer to backgammon todays version. The game came to Britain with the
Roman conquest in the 1st Century backgammon and was also referred to free backgammon game as backgammon Tabula,
a generic name for the board on which it was played. This pastime was quite
popular and a favored game by Emporor Claudius. About 50 AD, motif backgammon Claudius wrote a
history of the game of Tabula which, unfortunately, has not survived. His
imperial carriage was equipped with zone backgammon an alveus, a Tabula playing board, so that
he could play while travelling. Tabula is also the game which was primarily
responsible for the gambling mania which swept Rome prior to its being declared
illegal under the Republic. The fine for backgammon backgammon club gambling at backgammon any backgammon other time except the
Saturnalia was four times the backgammon rules stakes, although this law was only weakly and
sporadically enforced. By the 6th Century the game was called Alea, "the art of
gambling with dice". Alea was likely the first precursor to contemporary
backgammon although there were many vaiations regarding starting positions and
movment.
Backgammon in Asia
In Asia a game called "Nard" appeared prior to 800AD gnu backgammon in
southwest Asia or Persia. Nard was played in a similar fashion as Alea and used
only backgammon 2 die to move markers. Also referred to as Nardshir, Nardeeshir, and
Nard-i-shir, with "Nard" was the Persian name for wood backgammon set up product like the board
on which it was played. The online backgammon for money game was also called "Takhteh Nard" meaning "battle
on wood". An ancient writing backgammon describing the symbolism of the game reveals
that:
The board represents backgammon a year; each side contains 12
points for months of the year; the twenty-four points represent the hours in a
day; the 30 checkers represent days of backgammon the month; the sum of opposing sides of
the die represent the 7 backgammon backgammon galore days fo the week; the contrasting colors of each set of
checkers represent day and night.
Ancient Dice
T'shu-p'u was the Chinese name free backgammon game download for Nard
thought to be invented in Western India and arived in China during the Wei
dynasty (220-265AD) and was popular from 479-1000AD, while the Japanese called
it "Sugoroku". Nard introduced into Europe via Italy or Spain following Arab
occupation of Sicily in 902AD. The term "Tabula" was used by backgammon several play backgammon backgammon for money cultures
making it backgammon free gamedesire likely that the game was widespread by the Roman Empire while "Nard"
was similarly spread thoughout Asia by the Arabs. The Arabian game Nard appears
to be backgammon a slightly modifed version of Tabula, perhaps incorporating aspects of
Egyptian play backgammon online Senat. The main difference between the two versions was that Tabula
used 3 dice while Nard used 2. The use of 2 backgammon dice for Tabula later became
increasingly popular.
Backgammon's Proliferation and online backgammon tournament Standardization
TricTrac Painting
The first mention in English chouette print was in backgammon The Codex
Exoniensis "These two shall sit at tables..." in 1025 as Nard or "Tables" was
played throughout the middle ages and was popular in English taverns. Chess
overtook Tables in popularity around the 15th Century. The game was evne chouette banned
for some time due to its prevalent gambling nature until the reign of Elizabeth
I. In backgammon fact, the game enjoyed popularity in several countries under different
names including: Tavola Reale (Italy), Tables Reales backgammon (Spain), Tavli (Greece),
Tavla
(Turkey), backgammon calendar Tric
Trac (France), Backgammon or Tables (Britain), Puff (Germany), Vrhcaby
(Czech), and Swan-liu (China). The term "Backgammon" online backgammon tournament is said to have been
derived in 1645 from either the Saxon "baec" (back) "gamen" (game) or backgammon the Welsh
"bac" or "bach" (little) "gammon" or "cammaun" backgammon software (battle) with the first being
more likely. Yet another theory was that it received it's name because it was
frequently found on the "back" of chessboards, although this too is unlikely.
By this time backgammon shop Tabula using 2 dice adopting backgammon the rule of playing doubles twice was
much like the contemporary version backgammon with backgammon betting the exception of the doubling cube and
the counting of gammons and backgammons. In 1743 Edmond Hoyle codified the
rules of play with his Treatise on Backgammon, the first official backgammon com it shove backgammon set of modern
rules in existence.
Hoyle's Treatise on Backgmmon
The Modern History of Backgammon
1920-1960
The doubling backgammon site cube backgammon was believed to
be introduced in New York in the 1920's by some unknown gambler which enhanced
the element of skill in the game increasing its marketability, insuring its
place as a popular pastime. The game was mostly limited to the upper backgammon board game class in
private clubs although several introductory backgammon publications burst onto
the scene. The backgammon rules were modified in backgammon set up 1931 in
the U.S. to what generally governs the game today. There backgammon was somewhat of a
decline in popularity during the depression and a light resurgence in play 65 backgammon the
1940's which saw a few more texts
published although no real advances in skill. Interest decreased again during
WWII.
Oby's Backgammon Book
1960-1990
The popularity of
backgammon free backgammon software increased during the 1960's with the efforts of Prince Alexis
Obelensky (Oby) who organized and promoted tournaments and the first "Official"
World Championships in the Bahamas becoming
backgammon's highest honor which holds true today. A prolific publishing trend
of backgammon books was started with "Backgammon: The Action Game" backgammon com it shove by Oby
himself. The 1970's have been frequently described as backgammon's "Heyday" as
it saw huge increases in popularity, publicity, tournaments and backgammon
literature including books, backgammon supply magazines, and newspaper columns. It moved from the
upper to middle classes and was popular cheat for backgammon on pogo among the younger generation as well.
Tournament purses soared into 6 digit sums and its popularity was widespread
throughout the US and Europe. Several great introductory texts came out
including "The Backgammon Book" by
Jacoby & Crawford, "Backgammon: The Cruelest
Game" by Cooke & Bradshaw, which paved the backgammon variation way for more advanced
tomes such as "Backgammon for Profit" by
Dwek and the Classic "Backgammon" by
Magriel referred to by many as the "bible of backgammon". The 1980's however
saw a decline in backgammon game popularity again mostly among the younger generation likely
due to the advent of video games and the excitement to young minds that they
can backgammon variation provide. Interest in learning the intricacies of the game was as strong as
ever for the players that remained and was bolstered by the invention of
computer backgammon play backgammon for money which could not only provide a decent opponent but more
importantly they could save hours of time by performing rollouts of positions
giving players a deeper understanding backgammon kurnik of the game.
Jellyfish
1990-Present
The computer revolution
continued in full force as Gerald Tesauro of IBM wrote software which could
teach itself how to play backgammon using Neural backgammon piece 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 backgammon club in Sweden for free. Over 100 players with internet
connections could be found playing at any one time with the ability to save
matches, watch matches and compare playing strengths via a rating system.
Frederic Dahl of Norway created the first commercial neural net backgammon
software with Jellyfish which could
assign equity values to any position and rollout positions like never before.
Bot players appeared on FIBS and a backgammon newsgroup appeared at rec.games.backgammon
where players could go and discuss all things backgammon.
Snowie
Olivier Egger introduced Snowie, a more commercially popular
backgammon software with a user-friendly interface and the ability to import
and analyze matches still considered todays standard. The latest development in
backgammon software, GNU
Backgammon, will likely give these others a run for their money as it
is based on Open Source making it free for download and improvement by
programmers. Several serious backgammon books appeared by the likes of Kleinman, Robertie, and Woolsey and our body of knowledge and use of
backgammon software has become so advanced that most recent books describe
concepts and positions backed up by computer rollouts such as those by Bagai (who actually corrects mistakes make in
previous books) and Wiggins. Backgammon
has acheived somewhat of a steady state with several tournaments throughout the
US and Europe being well attended. The internet provides several backgammon
servers who enjoy clientele among the thousands and the web has given birth to
a multitude of backgammon resources such as the one you are at now.
Considerable thanks go out to Chuck Bower and Mark Driver who both wrote
excellent articles at GammOnline, and to the creators of
the various websites that I have linked to for their research and dissemination
of Backgammon's rich history.
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