Backgammon (1630)

Backgammon is one of the oldest known board games, with origins dating back around 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia. The current version of Backgammon derived from the game Tabula, which was popular during the Roman Empire.

Objective

The objective is to move all your checkers around the board counter-clockwise and then remove them before your opponent does. Dice rolls determine legal checker moves, adding an element of luck to the game, but skillful positioning and strategy are needed to win.

Components

– Backgammon board with 24 triangles or points
– 30 checkers or stones
– 15 for each player (typically white and black)
– Pair of dice and dice cup

Setup

– Board placed with player’s home board on right side and opponent’s on left
– Checkers placed
– two on each player’s 24 point, five on 13 point, three on 8 point, and five on 6 point

Gameplay Mechanics

– Players roll dice to determine checker moves
– Checkers move in opposite directions around the board
– If dice rolled allow a checker to land on a point occupied by 1 or more opponent’s checkers, it is “hit” and sent back to the center bar to re-enter
– First player to remove all 15 checkers from board wins

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