Backgammon history

When you are playing backgammon, you are contributing to a great piece of history. Backgammon history dates back 5,000 years and is thus the oldest known game to man. In the following article we are going to follow the history of backgammon and see how backgammon evolved to be the game as we know it now. There is also a nice summary of Backgammon history at Wikipedia.

Early years

To date it remains questionable where the first version of Backgammon originates. The oldest possible ancestor of the game found so far dates back to 3,000 B.C. to the ancient civilization of Sumer in Mesopotamia (present Iraq). Early 20th century excavations revealed a set of games made of wood with loose resemblance to the present Backgammon boards.

The ancient Egyptians also had their own version a possible ancestor of the modern Backgammon. Wall paintings around the ancient Egyptian empire depict people, both aristocrats and common people, playing the boardgame found also in Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb in the valley of Nile.

The first real version of Backgammon has likely originated in India or in China. Due to the trade connections between the two civilizations it is difficult to point out a definitive origin of the game, but the Indian game Parcheesi bears enough similarity to modern Backgammon to be recognized as the first ancient version of the game. The object in Parcheesi, as in backgammon, is to “bear off” all your men from the board, and in both games a player must bring all of his men into his home sector before be can start to bear them off. Further, in both games a single man or “blot” is a weakness since an opponent can play to that point and send that man off the board.

From Roman times to middle ages

Backgammon, or more precisely an ancestor of the game, eventually found its way to Europe. Greeks were playing their own version of it and later it continued to gain popularity within the Roman empire.

Backgammon had various names during the Romans times, of which worth mentioning are “tabulae” and “ludus duodecim scriptorium” – the latter meaning “the twelve-line game” for the twelve points on each side of the board. It was a very popular game especially on all levels of the society and several excavations have revealed wall paintings depicting people playing backgammon, which at the time was apparently played with three dice instead of two. For those who are interested, this page of rules and history of Tabulae is a must.

Romans took the game with them during their conquests but it was the crusades that eventually spread the game around Europe. “Tables”, as backgammon and its different versions were called (deriving from the Roman “tabulae”), spread from the upper class throughout medieval society in Europe. The Church opposed tables and other gambling games and people caught playing it were being prosecuted. Attempts to suppress tables continued until the end of 15th century, but beginning from the early 16th century onwards bans were gradually lifted around Europe.

Backgammon in the 18th & 19th centuries

The word “backgammon” was first used in 1645. H.J.R. Murray wrote then in his book “A History Other Board Games Other Than Chess” that backgammon, the modern form of “tables” was invented in the early 17th century in England. The game, still commonly called tables, was played around Europe and not surprisingly it found its way to North-America already with the early settlers. By the 18th century backgammon had become a very popular pastime on both side of the Atlantic Ocean, Thomas Jefferson for example was a keen player.

In 1743 Edmond Hoyle published his “Treatise on the game of Back – Gammon”, codifying the first official set of modern backgammon rules.

Modern backgammon

Backgammon went through the last major change in the 1920’s when some unknown gambler in New York introduced the doubling cube. This sped up the game, added an extra element of risk, and demanded new levels of strategy and skill. The marketability of the game increased as well – an important element in securing the popularity of backgammon.

The 1920’s and 1930’s were a good time for backgammon. During World War II interest decreased and it wasn’t until the 1970’s when backgammon again became hugely popular. Vast amounts of literature published in the 1970’s are still widely available in a multitude of languages.

1980’s saw again a decline in interest towards backgammon due to the introduction of computers and computer games. The young generation was lured away from traditional backgammon by flashy computer graphics. Internet and online gaming, however, has opened possibilities for backgammon to reach popularity levels never seen before in the history of backgammon. Play65 and Gammon Empire are examples of excellent online backgammon sites that show what wonderful times backgammon players are now living and of what is to come in the future.