Backgammon Review

One of the all-time classic board games standing the test of time of the ages. Backgammon is a fantastically competitive board game suitable for all.

The History

I had no idea the history of this game until writing a blog about it. The earliest record of the game dates back to the 17th century, but is descended from a 16th century game called Irish. However, there are links to the game going back thousands of years further to the Mesopotamian and Persian eras. Incredible! It is still going strong in the 21st century.

My history with this game goes back not so far, probably close to 30 years though, having been taught it as a child. It regularly featured on our family holidays and because of its speed of play, would come out at home when at a loose end for something to do.

The Game

A strict 2 player game involving one playing board, 30 counters (15 in each colour) and a pair of dice. The goal being to be the first player to remove all your 15 counters off of the board before your opponent.

Players take it in turns to roll the dice and move playing counters off around the board. Counters are moved based on the dice roll. So, a 5 and 2 means you can move one counter 2 spaces and another counter 5 spaces, or the one counter 7 spaces. Doubles count double, so a double 4 for example means you get four movements of 4 spaces. There does have to be an available space to move into. Players should look to protect their counters by at least doubling them up, making the space unavailable to their opponent to occupy and prevent their playing counter being sent back to the start. This is where the strategy comes into play. Players should look to protect their own counters as well as take advantage of opportunities to send their opponents counters back home. Working out the odds-on dice rolls and chance of this is critical to success. Their will be plenty of times players have to take risks and leave their own counters vulnerable. Particularly as they cannot place more than 5 counters on their own stacks, there is a limit. There will be occasions players also won’t be able to make a move and be trapped.

The game can take anything from 10 mins to 25-30 minutes typically, it just depends on how often pieces are sent home. It is great fun though.

So Much Fun!

I love this game. It was ultra-competitive as a child with my family and I have taught it to many more people off the back of that. Not necessarily providing all my tips and tricks pending on who the opponent is. I remember taking a set on holiday with my Uni mates and it go super-competitive again. Sitting around a Spanish pool side with a set out on the sun beds, great times.

I also wanted my own quality set which I stumbled across on a lad’s holiday to Turkey at a Turkish market. A lovely wooden set. I was also pleased to haggle it down to a great price. However, it also shows the game is known globally due to its simplicity. It has to be up there as one of the all-time great games.

Zatu also stock many different sets of the game which is brilliant, some of which are very reasonably priced.

Final Thoughts

Backgammon is truly one of the all-time classic board games. It is simple to learn, fast paced and highly competitive. It will provide gamers with hours of fun and entertainment.