What is Backgammon? A Description

Backgammon is a game that incorporates both a player's skill and luck into the game play. It can be played on a real wooden board, on a computer, or on the Internet. Backgammon in a way resembles checkers since both games use chips/checkers to move around the board. One big difference is that in backgammon you use dice to figure out how many pips your checker moves forward.

Like chess and checkers, backgammon is played by two players on opposing sides of the board. Both players have 15 checkers each. The backgammon board has 24 spaces or points where checkers can move around. Where chess pieces move along squares, backgammon pieces move along triangles in a race to get your pieces to home. You get to move your checkers according to the dice roll you make, like your average children's board game.

The dice presents the random element of the game in backgammon. That may be true, but luck doesn't hold sway during a game but skill does. Often, you can judge a player's skill by the decisions made during the game. By applying correct backgammon strategy you can make the dice work for you even though you might appear to be at the losing end of a game.

It is believed that backgammon has been around for more than 5,000 years (or at least a variant or an ancestor of this game has been around that long). We are certain that the Greeks and Romans played a version of backgammon. So the next time you hold a backgammon set in your hands, remember that you could be holding the oldest game in all history.

In the 17th century, Backgammon finally made its way to England, was refined, and received the name "backgammon". Of course, we know that this name kind of stuck around for centuries until today. When backgammon finally hit American soil another innovation was added -- the doubling cube (i.e. added to the game in the 1920s).

Backgammon had its ups and downs in the decades to come but it regained popularity in the 70's. The elements of skill, luck, and gambling made this game quite appealing. Books about backgammon began to be published during this time.

The Internet and computers have added a new dimension to backgammon as a game. Backgammon has become more accessible to millions. Computer generated game simulations also added to game analysis resulting to better strategies and better players.

Backgammon is a game that can be played on a real board or on a virtual game board on your computer. It pits one player's skill against another's.