Backgammon
March 25th, 2008
Many people think that games are a modern invention. The truth is that games existed long before we did. Games that were similar to chess, checkers, backgammon and multiple dice games existed long ago.
The history of games actually dates back to the Anglo-Saxon age. Archeological finds show a primitive form of dice used in ancient times. These dice were six sided dice mostly made of antler and bone, however, it is believed that others may have been made of wood and other materials that more than likely degraded over time.
The odd arrangement of numbering on ancient dice is different from the dice of today. Some show duplicate numbers on two or more sides, while others show the numbers 1 and 2 on the smallest sides indicating that these were the preferred numbers to roll for the games they were used for. Upon excavation of these dice, they were x-rayed and found to contain one sided weights used to increase the odds of rolling one number over another. (in other words this was a primitive form of cheating) Though, some of the dice were cubes, most of the dice that were uncovered have been rectangular in shape, with 4 long sides, and two square smaller sides.
In addition to these primitive dice, game boards were also unearthed. One very interesting game board looks amazing similar to that of a modern day backgammon board. This type of board has been found to have roots in Germany, Rome and in Gloucester. These boards were used to play a game called Tabula.
Experts speculate that a Tabula board was used to play a game similar to the modern game of backgammon. There were fifteen pieces of each color (some were black and white, some were red and white) for a total of 30 pieces in all. Each player would line up there pieces and by rolling 3 dice consecutively would execute moves in an attempt to get all there pieces to their home, and eventually removed from the board completely. The person who was the first to get all fifteen of their pieces off the board was the winner.
It is truly amazing to think that today we can play online backgammon as well as on a board or in a casino. Surely, the people of ancient times would be amazed if they could watch a game of online backgammon today.