Backgammon
The classic two-player game of strategy and luck, descended from 16th-century Irish.
Last updated
Thomas Rowlandson · CC0
Two competitors use dice and counters on a tables board to play the game of backgammon.[1]
Making and release
The earliest identifiable tables game, Tabula, is described in an epigram of Byzantine Emperor Zeno from AD 476–491.[2] The earliest mention of backgammon under the name Baggammon was by James Howell in a letter dated 1647.[3] The first known rules of "Back Gammon" were produced by Francis Willoughby around 1672, followed by Charles Cotton in 1674.[4] Prince Alexis Obolensky co-founded the International Backgammon Association and organized the first major international backgammon tournament in March 1964.[5][6]
The Persian game nard or nardšir appeared sometime between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD; one source connects it with Ardashir I, while another credits Bozorgmehr Bokhtagan with its invention.[7] The 16th-century tables game Irish, which was the Anglo-Scottish version of the French Toutes Tables, was the direct forerunner of backgammon.[1] By 1850 at the latest, the rules had become those used currently, including a bar in the middle and hit men being placed on the bar.[8]
What the cited sources add
The backgammon family of games has apparent origins in ancient Persia around 2000 BCE, according to Schädler's account.[9] A board from Jiroft shows three parallel rows of twelve circular fields, similar to later Roman boards for ludus duodecim scriptorum.[9] The UK Backgammon Federation runs the Backgammon Galaxy UK Open Tournament and has tournament rules adopted by the World Backgammon Federation.[10][11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Forgeng, Johnson and Cram (2003), p. 269. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Austin, "Zeno's Game of τάβλη", The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1934, p. 202–205 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Howell (1650), p. 105. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Oxford English Dictionary", 1989; Wheately (1666), p. 70.; Willughby (c. 1660-1672), entries for "Cards", "Tables", "Irish" and "Back Gammon."; Willughby (c. 1672); Cotton (1674), pp. 156–158. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Inventor of Doubling in Backgammon", www.gammonlife.com; "The Father Of Modern Backgammon - GammonVillage Magazine", www.gammonvillage.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Inventor of Doubling in Backgammon", www.gammonlife.com; "Urge to Play Backgammon Sweeping Men's Clubs", The New York Times, January 13, 1966 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Schädler, "Board Games in pre-Islamic Persia" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bohn (1850), pp. 380 ff. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Schädler, "Board Games in pre-Islamic Persia". facts only, no text reused. iranicaonline.org
- "What Is The UKBGF?", UKBGF. facts only, no text reused. ukbgf.com
- Wikipedia, "Backgammon" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "What Is The UKBGF?", UKBGF (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Backgammon (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Backgammon (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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