Backgammon is considered the national game in many countries of the Eastern Mediterranean: [77] Egypt, [78] Turkey, [79] Cyprus, [80] Syria, [81] Israel, [82] Palestine, [83] Lebanon [77] and Greece. The first known rules of "Back Gammon" were produced by Francis Willughby around 1672; [24] they were quickly followed by Charles Cotton in 1674.

If a checker is hit during the bear-off process, the player must bring that checker back to his home board before continuing to bear off. and ignoring wastage during bearing-off, we can expect to take between 20 – 21 rolls to clear the board (167/8. Instead of pips, it has the Arabic numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64 written on it and is usually larger than the other dice.Around 2003, some club leaders noticed a growth of interest in backgammon, and attributed it to the game's popularity on the Internet. Berliner stated that the victory was largely a matter of luck, as the computer received more favorable dice rolls. The dice rolls can range from 2-1 (or 1-2) at the lowest, allowing a maximum movement of 3 pips, to 6-6, which results in a maximum movement of 24 pips. Backgammon clubs were formed and tournaments were held, resulting in a World Championship promoted in Las Vegas in 1967. Doubles had originally been recorded by placing "common parlour matches" on the bar in the centre of the board.

At the end of the game, the loser pays the winner the value of the doubling cube in whatever units they have agreed to play for. Robert Charles Bell, Board and table games from many civilizations, Courier Dover Publications, 1979, ISBN 0-486-23855-5, pp. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the cube, which is placed on his side of the board (showing the new value). If moves can be made according to either one die or the other, but not both, the higher number must be used. Duplication" refers to the placement of checkers such that one's opponent needs the same dice rolls to achieve different goals.If the opponent doesn’t want to resign, he may accept the double, and agree to continue play at double the previous stakes. Traditional sets often use stones that are cylindrical in shape, with flat, round surfaces for easy movement on the board. If the players roll the same number, they must roll again, leaving the first pair of dice on the board. The Persian tables game of nard or nardšir emerged somewhere between the 3rd and 6th century AD, one text ( Kār-nāmag ī Ardaxšēr ī Pāpakān) linking it with Ardashir I (r.

a b "World Backgammon Championships History | Backgammon Masters | Backgammon Articles' Categories | Play65™" . If the play is incomplete or otherwise illegal, the opponent has the option of accepting the play as made or of requiring the player to make a legal play. When backgammon tournaments are held to determine an overall winner, the usual style of competition is match play. The aim, board, number of pieces or "men", direction of play and starting layout were the same as in the modern game.

Backgammon is a two-player game of contrary movement in which each player has fifteen pieces known traditionally as men (short for 'tablemen'), but increasingly known as 'checkers' in the US in recent decades, analogous to the other board game of Checkers.

Some players choose to include this rule throughout the game but often set a limit as to how high the cube can go off of automatic doubling. World Backgammon Championships History - Backgammon Masters - Backgammon Articles' Categories - Play65™".For instance, if the cube showed the number 2 and a player wanted to redouble the stakes to put it at 4, the opponent choosing to drop the redouble would lose two, or twice the original stake. This reduces the number of games needed to win the match, lessening the value of the points held by the player who is winning.