Backgammon: Then and Now

While the origin and history of Backgammon may be difficult to pinpoint exactly, there is enough evidence to show that it is the oldest board game in history. Yet despite this fact, the game continues to thrive, and now has a solid following on the Internet.

For all the complexities and innovations that have come about, the basics of the game -a board game played with checkers whose movement is determined by a dice- have remained. For this reason it is fairly easy for historians to judge whether a particular game has any connection to the modern game or not.

The history of Backgammon so far has shown that it was widely played in virtually every part of the world, with variations found in every major civilization, from the Roman Empire, the Sumerians, to the mighty civilizations in ancient China. As the game spread in Europe various forms emerged throughout, the most popular being tables, which was played very much like modern day Backgammon.

The game became very popular in the US too, despite the arrival and rise of other board games. Despite the rise in popularity of casino games during the 1930s and 40s, Backgammon continued to hold its own.

The introduction of the doubling cube made the game faster, and enable the players to double the stakes and thus made it less difficult to play for higher stakes. This would eventually lead to the establishment of high stakes cash games and tournaments.

Today, Backgammon, especially on the Internet still looks and plays like the way it was years ago. True, there are a lot of innovations, including the ability to play against players from all over the world. The early games also did not have any doubling cube, or variations like tournament, match or money play.

Yet for all the changes and transformations that the game has gone through, the essence of the game that makes it what it is -fast paced and ideal for those that like strategic games- have remained in force.

Thus, the movement of the checkers based on the rolls continue to be the driving force of the game, just as it was thousands of years ago. This will only ensure that the game will be here to stay and gain more followers.

Because despite all the transformations and innovations that technology may bring, there are some basic elements in the Backgammon game that should remain the same.