An ancient ancestor of the game can be found as far back as 5,000 years from archaeological sites in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, now Iraq and excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley during the 1920s. Ur of the Chaldees, the Biblical home of Abraham, found excavations of the royal cemetery and game layouts bearing some resemblance to modern backgammon boards. Made of wood, decorated with shell mosaic, bone, lapis lazuli and embellished with animals and rosettes.

To conjecture about where the first versions of backgammon may have originated from a proposed suggestion would be India or China, two civilizations from which the world has inherited many games. Each culture is attributed with a game of skill - Indian, chess; China, playing a similar version indicating there might have been commerce. The connection may be tenuous; however, sufficiently similar to suggest a potentially distanced ancestor.

Versions of backgammon can be found in a number of countries in the Far East. China has a game called shwan-liu. Koreans play ssang-ryouk; in Thailand, len sake (saka); Malaysia, main tabal.

By trade or invading routes, the game may have found its way to eastern Europe from the Far East and the Mediterranean. One thousand years after the Pharaohs played their version of this game, Greeks played a form of backgammon. For example, Plato mentions a Greek form of the game and makes commentary on its popularity.

Excavators of Pompeii unearthed a backgammon table inscribed in the courtyard of many villas. In addition, a wall painting was found depicting a backgammon scenario in two segments. In Rome the game had three names; and, perhaps, played with three dice instead of two. "Alea" (dice), "tabulae" (tables); and the most descriptive - "ludus duodecim scriptorum" (twelve-line game, representing the twelve points on either side of the board.)

By whatever name, the game continued being played in Rome after the establishment of Christianity. Among Christian artifacts a marble slab was found, into which a backgammon board had been carved. Roman legions may have carried tabulae with them invading Europe; however, returning Crusaders spread the game through Europe.

Another form of backgammon was played in the Middle East generations before the Crusades. However, the game the Crusaders saw being played was called nard (nard-shir). The source may have been ancient Sumer, India, Egypt, or a blending of all three. Learning the game from the Persians, it was supposedly named after Ard-shir Babakan, from the Persian empire. The game was played on a checkered cloth, containing twelve divisions corresponding to the solar months in the Persian year.

A number of early variations of backgammon seem to have been popular in Britain. Although the game was known in Anglo-Saxon times and mentioned in English texts of the 8th and 9th centuries, its popularity apparently harkens back to the Crusades. By the 12th century the game had acquired its English name, "Tables," after the Roman tabulae.

Remaining a favorite game in Europe throughout the Middle Ages, a 13th century chronicle portrays knights playing "atte tables." Spreading from the upper class through medieval society, innkeepers provided customers with boards, dice and men. The Church, however, did not approve of gambling games and fought a long campaign against this. In the mid-1200's King Louis IX, France, forbid the game to court officials and included that ban to all his subjects. In Italy, a century later, the Church was still prosecuting people caught playing tables; being classified "dishonest;" and, continued attempts to suppress it until well into the 15th century.

The modern game board appeared in illuminated manuscripts in Europe as early as the 14th century. Subsequently, as the game spread and gained popularity, images appeared throughout the continent, with elaborate boards surviving from this time. In addition, English literature has references to tables - later backgammon. Shakespeare, in Love's Labours Lost alludes to the game: "...when he plays at table, chides the dice in honourable terms." As a game of skill and chance the game continued to thrive, against sanctions. Remaining a popular game with Elizabethans the game flourished with both aristocrats and common folk.

As with much of the history of backgammon, there is speculation about the derivation of the name of the game. The earliest documented use of the word "backgammon" was in 1645. Tables, however, continued to be the more common name used throughout the 17th century.

Variants for the sources of the term are derived from the Welsh - bach = small/cammaun = battle. However, in many earlier versions players began with all their men off the board, a more likely source is Middle English: baec = back/gamen = game. This signifies a game in which a player wants to return home and off the board; or, a player may be returned back to the bar to start over. Continuing to be referenced in literature, Lord Byron, in Don Juan (1655) wrote: "Like a backgammon board, the place was dotted with white and blacks." Edmond Hoyle wrote a treatise on the game in 1743, codifying the rules of play. These rules remained essentially unchanged until they were modified in the United States in 1931, introducing the doubling cube.

Backgammon has been played in the United States since the 17th century, crossing the Atlantic as trade and diplomacy expanded. There is an account noting that Thomas Jefferson played the game often. In addition, records from the mid-19th century note that at least one riverboat gambler played on portable backgammon set along the Mississippi.

Elsewhere the game continued to be called by a wide variety of names. For example, a variant in France was "tric trac;" in Italy, "tavole reale;" and in Spain, "tables reales." Versions of the game are played through Europe with names like "Russian Backgammon" and "German Backgammon."

Still widely played in the Mediterranean, from Greece to Rumania, interest in backgammon was revived in Europe and the United States in the 1920's with the introduction that a player might double the stakes of a game. An opponent would have the right to refuse; however, the game would end at the original stake. Eventually, the redoubling feature was added, allowing a player who has been doubled to redouble an opponent, when it is his roll of the dice.

With the advent of the internet in the 1990's, backgammon has experienced a huge resurgence in popularity. In 1993, FIBS (First Internet Backgammon Server) was developed by Andreas Schneider. Players with an internet connection could play, save matches, watch matches and compare opponents strengths with a rating system.

Today, global backgammon players can compete with the click of a mouse. Computer software with names like "Snowie" and "Jellyfish," can perform backgammon rollouts, match analysis and doubling cube evaluations. Whether playing an individual half-way 'round the world or playing a robot (bot) to improve their game, the strategy, skill and chance of backgammon succeeds into the 21st century.

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History By : JDO & Associates - www.jdoassociates.biz
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