Backgammon History

With a recorded past of more than 6000 years, backgammon is by far one of the oldest games in history. It is said to have its roots in board games mostly attributed to the leaders and aristocracy of various civilizations, such as Egypt, Mesopotamia or the Persian Empire. It was generally played on a wood board, using checkers and dice manufactured from stones and also bones, wood or pottery.

Egyptian versions of the game are called Senet, 3x10 squared boards, also known as “The Game of Thirty Squares”, that go back as far as the year 3000 BC. Other relics have been discovered in former Mesopotamia, called The Royal Games of Ur, which are believed to have existed since 2600 BC.

Similarly, the ancient Romans played a game called Ludus Dodecim Scriptorum (“The Game of Twelve Lines”), using leather boards and sets of 30 markers. Supposed to have evolved from the Egyptian Senet, the game dates back to 600AD, suffering many changes throughout its history. Once with the Roman Conquest in the 1st century, the game was brought to Britain, being named generically Tabula, for the board used in the game. Soon, it gained great popularity at the court of Emperor Claudius, causing in time a gambling frenzy which inherently led the authorities of the time to declare the game illegal. Thus, in the 6th century it took the name of Alea, meaning “the art of gambling with dice”, which is considered to be the first predecessor of today’s backgammon.

As for Asia, the game called Nard (or Nardshir, meaning “of wood”) came into existence before 800 AD, being very similar to the European form of the game, but using only 2 dice to move the backgammon pieces, while Tabula used 3 dice. Another name used when referring to the Asian version of backgammon is Takhteh Nard meaning “battle on wood”. The Chinese name for Nard was T’shu/p’u, while the Japanese called it Sugoroku. Also, if Tabula was spread out by the Roman Empire, Nard was brought to the attention of Asians by the Arabs, who later on also introduced it in Europe (902 AD).

Consequently, the game was first mentioned in English print in The Codex Exoniensis in 1025, being a popular pastime not only among nobles, but also among common people. Nonetheless, around the 15th century it started to lose some of its popularity, being even banned by the English Court due to its gambling features. The situation was quite different in other regions of the continent, the game being very popular under various names, such as: Tavola Reale (Italy), Tables Reales (Spain), Tavli (Greece), Tavla (Turkey), Tric Trac (France), Backgammon or Tables (Britain), Puff (Germany) etc. Surprisingly or not, by the 18th century, it became again a much enjoyed hobby even among the English clergy.

It is said that the term “backgammon” (first recorded in 1650) has its source in the Saxon words “baec” (back) and “gamen” (game) meaning play backwards, the objective of each player being to take all of his markers off the board. Another important moment in the backgammon history was the publication of the first official set of modern rules, written by Edmond Hoyle in 1743 (Treatise on Backgammon).

As far as modern times are concerned, this game’s popularity had its various moments, some good and others less good. Thus, if in the 19th century the success that chess enjoyed cast a shadow over backgammon, in the second half of the 20th century, the tables turned around, the game starting to regain its ground. This was mainly achieved through the involvement of Prince Alexis Obelensky who organized the first World Championship of Backgammon (1960’s) and game strategy book, Backgammon: The Action Game.

Another major changed that contributed to the success of this game was the addition of the “doubling cube”, variation which meant to turn it into a more appealing game.

All in all, it was the internet revolution that had the greatest impact upon the status of backgammon, as it made it accessible to a great number of people, situation which would have been impossible to conceive thousands of years before.