Backgammon
Backgammon is a board game for two players that combines chance with deep strategic knowledge. The objective is to be able to remove tiles from the board before the rival player. It is currently widespread in virtually the entire world. In Spain, this board game is popularly known as real tables, chaquete or chanchullo.
History
Mesopotamia and the Middle East
The history of backgammon dates back nearly 5,000 years to its origins in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), to the oldest game of dice of the world related to the one discovered in the region. The Royal Game of Ur from 2600 BCE. C. can also be an ancestor or an intermediate point of modern board games, such as backgammon. He used tetrahedral dice. Various other board games have been found spanning the centuries from the X to the VII a. throughout Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and western Iran today. In the modern Middle East, backgammon is a common feature in coffeehouses. Today, the game in various forms is still commonly practiced in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and throughout the Arab world.
In the modern Arab Levant and Iraq, the game is commonly called tawle, meaning table. This may represent a shared name origin with the Roman or Byzantine variant of the game. It is also commonly referred to as shesh besh (shesh means six in Persian, and besh means five in Turkish), among Arabs and some speakers of Kurdish, Persian and Turkish. Shesh besh is commonly used to refer to when a player rolls a 5 and a 6 at the same time on the dice.
Persia
An older game resembling backgammon may also have been played in the easternmost part of the prehistoric Iranian plateau, far from Mesopotamia. At the archaeological site of Shahr-i Sokhta, the burnt city, 4,400 years old, an ebony board was found along with artifacts including two dice and 60 tokens, with the game boards represented by the coils of a snake. The rules of this one, like others found in Egypt, have not yet been deciphered. However, it is made of ebony, a material most likely to be found on the Indian subcontinent, indicating that these board games may have been more widespread than previously thought.
In the Shāhnāmé of the 11th century century, the Persian poet Ferdousí credits Burzoe with the invention of spikenard in the VI century. He describes an encounter between Burzoe and a visiting Rajah from India. The Rajah introduces chess and Burzoe demonstrates tuberose, played with dice made of ivory and teak. backgammon versions; modern tuberose is shown to be the same as backgammon and perhaps dates back to 300-500, in the Babylonian Talmud, although others believe the Talmud makes reference to the Greek racing game Kubeia.
Iranologist Touraj Daryaee, chair of Persian studies at U.C. Irvine, in the first written mention of earlier variants of backgammon, writes:
The backgammon game is first mentioned in Vairagyasataka of Bhartrhari (p. 39), composed around the end of the century VI or principles of VIId. C. The use of dice for the game is another indication of its Indian origin, since the dice and gambling were a popular hobby in that region. However, the rules of the game first appeared in the middle Persian text Wızarisnı Catrang ud Nihisnı New Ardaxsır (Explanation of chess and invention of backgammon), composed in the century VI during the reign of Sassanid king Cosroes I (530–571). The text assigns his invention to the wise Persian Burzoe, who was the minister of King Cosroes I. According to historical legend, Indian king Dewisarm sends his minister Taxritos to Persia with the chess game, and a letter challenging the king to solve the puzzle or the fundamental reason of the game. Cosroes asks for three days to decipher the game, but initially no one on the court can make any progress. On the third day, Cosroes' minister, Wuzurgmihr, successfully rises and explains the logic of the game. As a reciprocal challenge, Wuzurgmihr builds the backgammon game and gives it to the Indian king, who cannot decipher the game.
Roman and Byzantine Empires
Tάβλι (tavli) meaning "table" or "board" In Byzantine Greek, it is the oldest game with rules known to be nearly identical to backgammon. It is described in an epigram of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno (AD 476-491). The board was the same, with 24 points, 12 on each side. Like today, each player had 15 tiles and used cube dice with sides numbered one through six. The object of the game, to be the first to take all the tiles, was also the same. Hit a blob, re-enter one piece of the bar and removing everything followed the modern rules. The only differences from modern backgammon were the use of an extra die (three instead of two) and starting all pieces off the board (entering the same way that bar pieces enter modern backgammon). The name τάβλη is still used for backgammon in Greece, where it is frequently played. Zeno's epigram describes a particularly bad dice roll the emperor had for his post. Zeno, who was white, had a stack of seven tiles, three stacks of two tiles, and two "blots", tiles that stand alone at one point and therefore risk being knocked off the board by an incoming opponent token. Zeno rolled the three dice with which the game was played and got 2, 5 and 6. As in backgammon, Zeno could not move onto a space occupied by two opponent (black) pieces. The black and white tokens were so spread out on the dots that the only way to use all three results, as required by the game rules, was to split the three two-token stacks into spots, exposing them and ruining the game for the emperor.
The τάβλη from the time of Zeno is believed to be a direct descendant of the earlier Roman Ludus duodecim scriptorum (set of twelve lines) with the row of center dots of the board removed, leaving only the two outer rows. Ludus duodecim scriptorum used a board with three rows of 12 dots each, with the two players moving the 15 tokens in opposite directions to each other. along three rows in accordance with the roll of the three cube dice. Little specific text about the gameplay of this has survived; it may have been related to the ancient game of dice from ancient Greece, Kubeia. The first known mention of the game is in Ovid's Art of Loving, written between 1 B.C. C. and the 8 d. C. In Roman times, this game was also known as alea, and a probably apocryphal Latin story linked this name and the game to a Trojan soldier named Alea.
Western Europe
Board games, the predecessors of modern backgammon, first appeared in France during the 11th century and became in the favorite hobby of gamers. In 1254, Louis IX issued a decree forbidding court officials and subjects to play. Board games became widespread in Germany in the 17th century XII and had arrived in Iceland in the XIII century. In Spain, Alfonso X's manuscript, the Libro de los juegos, completed in 1283, describes the rules for various dice and board games, as well as an extensive discussion of chess. XVII, board games had spread to Sweden. A plank of wood and checkers were recovered from the wreckage of the Vasa among the belongings of the ship's officers. Backgammon features extensively in paintings from this period, primarily by Dutch and German painters such as Van Ostade, Jan Steen, Hieronymus Bosch, and Bruegel. Some surviving works of art are Caravaggio's Card Players (backgammon board is at bottom left) and Pieter Brueghel the Elder's The Triumph of Death (the backgammon board is seen in the lower right corner).
Rules
Backgammon is a game of simple rules with deep strategic elements. Learning takes little time, although sometimes difficult situations do arise that require careful interpretation of the rules. The duration of each game is short. When it is not played for money (bets), it is played in rounds or games; For example, the first to get five points wins.
The object of the game is to free your checkers before the opponent, avoiding leaving unguarded checkers. To free your checkers from the board, in the case of Black, you must advance the pieces to the lower right quadrant (the pieces move to the left at the top and continue from left to right at the bottom). Typically, on a graphic display, the bottom half of the board is the board itself. The inner quadrants are those located on the right; the pieces begin to be released once all our pieces are in our lower right quadrant.
Each side of the board has twelve adjacent squares, made up of elongated triangles. The boxes or points are imaginarily connected to each other, forming a chain of twenty-four elongated triangles (6×4). The triangles are of alternating colors and are grouped into four quadrants of six triangles each. The quadrants are exterior or interior for each player. The outer and inner quadrants are separated by a bar.
A game of backgammon consists of two phases: the contact phase, when the players' most backward checkers can still be captured, and the race phase, in which the players' checkers can no longer be captured and being able to remove the chips only depends on the value of the dice.
The dots are numbered from one to twenty-four, and tokens always move from the highest numbered dots to the lowest. The two players move their checkers in opposite directions, so point 1 for one player is point 24 for the other.
The numbering would be as follows:
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 3 2 1
However, some games maintain the numbering of points from a player's perspective.
Each player starts with two checkers at his 24 point, three checkers at his 8 point, five checkers at his 6 point, and another five checkers at his 13 point. other clear.
Each player has their own pair of dice and one shared dice. This dice is used for doubling, with the numbers 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 and 64, and saves the final value of the game.
The game begins with a roll of the dice to decide who starts the game: the one with the highest score. Subsequently, the player whose turn it is rolls the dice and moves the pieces according to the following rules:
- If the score of the dice is "A" and "B", the player can move a piece "A" positions, and another piece - which can be the same-, "B" positions. To move a piece "A"+"B" positions, the position resulting from adding "A" must not be blocked, that is, two individual movements are considered and the other rules apply to each movement.
- You cannot move a chip to a blocked position, that is, where there are two or more opposing chips. If there is only one opposite tab, the chip is "captured" and placed in the vertical bar.
- The opposite player whose chip has been captured is obliged to enter this tab again on the game board on the first possible occasion, the entry position corresponds to the value obtained in one of the dice and, if not possible (because the entry position is blocked), loses the turn.
Therefore, in general we will try to have two or more own pieces in each position, to prevent them from being captured.
When the opposing player captures one of your tiles, the primary objective of the player in turn is to get that tile back onto the board. You can only enter the spaces that are unoccupied. That is to say, if when rolling the dice the result is 6 and 4, it will only be possible to enter the respective squares; otherwise, the turn will be lost. When there are no empty spaces, the opponent is forced to vacate a square, otherwise his opponent would be out of action.
Once all our pieces are in the lower right quadrant, they are released as the dice throws allow the pieces to "leave" the board, it is not necessary to get the right number: you can remove a piece that is one end position with any dice roll.
The player who frees all his pieces first wins the game and scores a point. If the opponent has not released any pieces, an additional point is obtained (gammon) and if the opponent still has pieces on our board, another additional point is obtained (backgammon).
Optional Rules
The following rules are commonly used, but do not apply if the two players disagree.
- Automatic Fold.- If the two players throw equal numbers in the first dice strip, the bets are automatically doubled. The Doblaje dice is set in 2 and remains in the middle. Players generally agree that there is only one automatic double per game.
- Ambition.- When a player is bent he can, immediately, redouble. The original folder has the option to accept or reject the redoble as if it were a normal redoble.
- The Jacoby Rule.- Gammons and Backgammons are counted as a single game if not doubled. This rule speeds up the game as it eliminates situations where players bend, and is played only by the Gammon.
Irregularities
- The dice must be thrown together on the board. The player must throw back both dice if one or both fall off the board, falls on a chip or is not fully entitled.
- A turn is completed when the player collects his dice. If the move is incomplete or illegal, the opponent has the option to accept the move or ask the player to perform it correctly. A move is given by acceptance when the opponent takes his dice or performs a double or redouble as a sign of beginning of his shift.
- If a player throws his dice before his opponent finishes his turn, that shot is considered null.
Backgammon Strategies
Playing on our board: consists of scoring as many points as possible on our board, thus complicating our opponent's exit and if we can attack a token, it will be more difficult for them to return to the game.
Combination: Combines creation and escape or, in other words, building our board with the two runners on the opponent's inside board in mind.
Risk Play: Risks are taken by exposing blots, to create advantageous positions or tempt the opponent to attack us. Unlike safe play, risks can lead to victory, but they can also lead to defeat.
Safe Risk: Protect the blots by exposing other blots that tempt the opponent.
Escape: focuses on escaping as soon as possible our back checkers called like that in English, which are the 2 tiles that are at point 1. There are two pitches that will allow us: 6-5 and 6-6. Any other combination will leave our chips exposed.
Backline Play: Create numerous anchors on the opponent's inner board, thus preventing them from redeeming their pieces and forcing them to expose them to attack.
Safe Play: Focuses on leaving as few blots as possible. This strategy suggests creating as many spikes on the board as possible, preventing the opponent from attacking our pieces. However, this strategy is not always advantageous, since it does not create opportunities for us to win the game, which are taken advantage of by the opponent. We must bear in mind that a long and exhausting game carries its risks and luck plays an important role, a double high throw can allow the opponent to escape our game.
The choice of the best strategy changes depending on the opponent's moves.
The betting dice
Backgammon is played for an agreed stake (or a number of points in tournament play). During the course of the game, a player who thinks they have a sufficient advantage may propose to double their bets. He can only do it when his turn arrives and before rolling the dice. A player who is offered to double down may decline, but in that case he will forfeit the game and pay the original bet. The alternative is to accept double and continue playing for the new higher bet. A player who accepts a double becomes the owner of the die and only he can make the next double. Subsequent doubles in the same game are called redoubles. If a player rejects a redouble, he must pay the bet that was in play before the redouble. If he does not reject it, he will become the new owner of the dice and the game will continue with a double bet on the previous one. Rollovers can increase the original bet by up to 64 times.
The betting die is larger than the other dice players roll to move their chips.
General rules of backgammon tournaments
The individual confrontation between players is usually carried out in a playoff format, so that each round defines who will be the competitors who will go to the next phase. In the qualifying phase, the couples face each other in a certain number of games. After these are done, the players with the best results will move on to the next level of the tournament. The losers of this qualifying round are not left out of the contest, but will go to a consolation round where the least important places in the standings will be defined. In certain longer tournaments, such as the World Backgammon Championship, more than one consolation round may take place.
Championship matches are played at a number of points which is determined by the tournament organizers. The same happens with the consolation rounds, but in this case, the number of points to be achieved is less. During each confrontation, the player who first manages to reach the stipulated number of points is considered the winner. The game points are obtained according to the international backgammon regulations, that is, 1 point for each simple game, a gammon grants 2 points and backgammon confers 3 points.
In tournaments, the doubling cube rule is also applied, which allows the participant to increase the number of points obtained in each game, since the value obtained in the doubling cube is multiplied by the points won during the game.
Almost always in backgammon tournaments the number of points established to win the game is an odd figure and the Crawford Rule is used, which states that when any of the two players is only one point away from winning in the game, both are prohibited from making the doubling proposal on the next move.
Once this move has elapsed, if the game has not yet been decided, the normal rules are restored, that is, it is possible to use the doubling cube again so that the player who is trailing behind can take advantage of this opportunity and stand as victor. Finally, players do not receive a bonus for additional points achieved during each game, the important thing is to win and reach the next phase, therefore the number of accumulated points is not decisive.
Software
Numerous programs have been created to simulate the game. Some of the most powerful are Snowie and Jellyfish (both discontinued but are still usable) or GNUBG (the latter available as free software). Many systems include among their features the option to analyze through the program all the possible movements with the launch that was obtained and which is the one that maximizes our probability of victory.
Backgammon Variants
There are many variations on the rules of regular backgammon. Some are played primarily across a geographic region and others add elemental new tactics into the game.
Hypergammon is a variant of backgammon in which the 2 players only have 3 checkers on the board, they start with a checker at their point 24, 23 and 22 each player.
Nackgammon is a variant invented by Nick "Nack" Ballard with the same rules as in normal backgammon except in the starting position: start with 2 checkers at point 23 and 24 of each player, 4 at point 13, 3 checkers at point 8 and 4 checkers at point 6.
Trigammon is a variant of backgammon. In this variation, players start with three tiles in each of the traditional squares, plus three tiles in the 9 position.
Tapa, a Macedonian variant of backgammon.
AceDucy is a variant of backgammon where all the chips are placed outside on each side of the players, the objective is to put them on the board by throwing the dice. When taking 2 and 1, it is the special shot, that movement is played, then it is repeated with the desired double and it is thrown again up to a maximum of 3 times in total. The chips are found at some point and the game continues until they are all removed. When eating a piece, it is removed from the board as at the beginning and the game continues as at the beginning, introducing it with the dice to the board.
Chased is another variant of backgammon where each player is placed face to face and the chips must be removed. At some point, each player has the opponent's checkers behind them, and must protect themselves until they are removed. When eating a piece, it is removed from the board as at the beginning and the game continues as at the beginning, introducing it with the dice to the board.
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