Editing Backgammon (section)

== History ==
The earliest specific reference to backgammon was in a letter dated 1635, when it was emerging as a variant of the popular medieval Anglo-Scottish game of [[Irish (game)|Irish]]; the latter was described as a better game.<ref name="Howell 1635, Vol. 2, No. 68">Howell (1635), Vol. 2, No. 68.</ref> By the 19th century, however, backgammon had spread to Europe, where it rapidly superseded other tables games like [[Trictrac]] in popularity, and also to America, where the doubling cube was introduced. In other parts of the world, different tables games such as [[Nard (game)|Nard]] or [[Nardy]] are better known.

=== Tables games ===
{{main|Tables game}}
Backgammon is a recent member of the large family of [[tables games]] that date back to ancient times. Its equipment is similar or identical to earlier tables games that have been depicted for centuries in art, leading to the mistaken belief that backgammon itself is much older.

==== Ancient history ====
[[File:British Museum Royal Game of Ur.jpg|thumb|One of the [[gameboard]]s found by [[Leonard Woolley|Sir Leonard Woolley]] in the [[Royal Cemetery at Ur]] ([[British Museum]])<ref>{{cite web |title=game-board {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1928-1009-378 |website = The British Museum |access-date=18 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref>]]

The history of board games can be traced back nearly 5,000 years to archaeological discoveries of the [[Jiroft culture]], located in present-day [[Iran]], the world's oldest game set having been discovered in the region with equipment comprising a dumbbell-shaped board, counters and dice. Although its precise rules are unknown, it has been termed the [[Game of 20 Squares]] and [[Irving Finkel]] has suggested a possible reconstruction. The [[Royal Game of Ur]] from 2600 BC may also be an ancestor or intermediate of modern-day table games like backgammon and is the oldest game for which rules have been handed down. It used tetrahedral dice. Various other board games spanning the 10th to 7th centuries BC have been found throughout modern day Iraq, Syria,  Egypt and western Iran.<ref name="Iranica board game">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Schädler |first1=Ulrich |last2=Dunn-Vaturi |first2=Anne-Elizabeth |title=Board Games in pre-Islamic Persia |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/board-games-in-pre-islamic-persia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |access-date=2018-04-11}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=Ancient Board Games in Perspective: Papers from the 1990 British Museum Colloquium, with Additional Contributions|last=Becker|first=Andrea|date=2007|publisher=British Museum Press|isbn=9780714111537|editor-last=Finkel|editor-first=Irving|editor-link=Irving Finkel|location=London, England|pages=16|chapter=The Royal Game of Ur|oclc=150371733}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=It's all a game : the history of board games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan|last=Donovan|first=Tristan|publisher=Thomas Dunne Books|year=2017|isbn=9781250082725|edition=First|location=New York|pages=13–16|oclc=960239246}}</ref>

==== Sasanian Empire ====

The Persian tables game of nard or nardšir emerged somewhere between the 3rd and 6th century AD, one text (''Kār-nāmag ī Ardaxšēr ī Pāpakān'') linking it with [[Ardashir I]] (r. 224–41), founder of the [[Sasanian dynasty]], whereas another (''Wičārišn ī čatrang ud nihišn ī nēw-ardaxšēr'') attributes it to [[Bozorgmehr Bokhtagan]], the [[Vizier]] of [[Khosrow I|Khosrow]] (r. 531–79), who is credited with the invention of the game.<ref name="Iranica board game"/>

==== Roman and Byzantine Empires ====

[[File:Roman Game of 12 Lines Board - Aphrodisias.jpg|thumb|upright=1.10|right|Roman ''[[Ludus duodecim scriptorum]]'' board from the 2nd century, Aphrodisias]]

The earliest identifiable tables game, [[Tabula (game)|Tabula]], meaning 'table' or 'board', is described in an [[epigram]] of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[Zeno (emperor)|Emperor Zeno]] (AD 476–491).<ref name="austin-zeno">{{cite journal |last=Austin |first=Roland G |title=Zeno's Game of τάβλη |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=54 |issue=2 |year=1934 |pages=202–205 |doi=10.2307/626864 |jstor=626864|s2cid=163212104 }}</ref> The overall aim was to be first to bear one's pieces off; the board had the typical tables layout, with 24 points, 12 on each side; and there were 15 counters per player. However, unlike modern Western backgammon, there were three cubical dice not two, no [[bar (tables game)|bar]] nor [[doubling die]], and all counters started off the board.<ref name="austin-zeno" /> Modern backgammon follows the same rules as tabula for hitting a blot and for bearing off; and the rules for re-entering pieces in backgammon are the same as those for initially entering pieces in tabula.<ref name="bell">[[Robert Charles Bell]], ''Board and table games from many civilizations'', Courier Dover Publications, 1979, {{ISBN|0-486-23855-5}}, pp. 33–35.</ref> The name Tavli ({{lang|el|τάβλι}}) is still used in Greece for various tables games, which are frequently played in town [[plateia]]s and cafes.<ref name="koukoules">{{cite book|last=Koukoules|first=Phaidon|author-link=Phaidon Koukoules|title=Vyzantinon Vios kai Politismos|year=1948|volume=1|pages=200–204|publisher=Collection de l'institut français d'Athènes}}</ref>

The {{lang|grc-x-medieval|τάβλι}} of Emperor Zeno's time is believed to be a direct descendant of the earlier Roman ''[[ludus duodecim scriptorum]]'' ('Game of twelve lines') with the board's middle row of points removed, and only the two outer rows remaining.<ref name="austin-roman2">{{cite journal|last=Austin|first=Roland G.|title=Roman Board Games. II|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=4|issue=11|date=February 1935|pages=76–82|doi=10.1017/s0017383500003119|s2cid=248520932 }}</ref> {{Lang|la|Ludus duodecim scriptorum}} used a board with three rows of 12 points each, with the 15 pieces being moved in opposing directions by the two players across three rows according to the roll of the three cubical dice.<ref name="austin-zeno" /><ref name="austin-roman2"/> Little specific text about the gameplay of {{lang|la|Ludus duodecim scriptorum}} has survived;<ref name="austin-roman1">{{cite journal|last=Austin|first=Roland G.|title=Roman Board Games. I|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=4|issue=10|date=October 1934|pages=24–34|doi=10.1017/s0017383500002941|s2cid=162861940 }}</ref> it may have been related to the older Ancient Greek dice game ''Kubeia''. The earliest known mention of the game is in [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Ars Amatoria]]'' ('The Art of Love'), written between 1 BC and 8 AD. In Roman times, this game was also known as ''alea''.<ref>Finkel, Irving L. "Ancient board games in perspective." British Museum Colloquium. 2007. p. 224</ref><ref>Jacoby, Oswald, and John R. Crawford. ''The backgammon book''. Viking Pr, 1976.</ref>

==== Western Europe ====

[[Image:Codex Manesse 262v Herr Goeli.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Poet [[Herr Goeli]] playing in the 14c, ''[[Codex Manesse]]'']]

Tables games first appeared in France during the 11th century and became a favourite pastime of gamblers. In 1254, Louis IX issued a decree prohibiting his court officials and subjects from playing.<ref name="murray">{{cite book |last=Murray |first=H.J.R. |author-link=H. J. R. Murray |chapter=6: Race-Games |title=A History of Board-Games Other than Chess |publisher=Hacker Art Books |year=1952 |isbn=978-0-87817-211-5}}</ref><ref name="lillich">{{cite journal|last=Lillich|first=Meredith Parsons|title=The Tric-Trac Window of Le Mans|journal=The Art Bulletin|volume=65|issue=1|date=March 1983|pages=23–33|doi=10.2307/3050296|jstor=3050296}}</ref> They were played in Germany in the 12th century, and had reached Iceland by the 13th century. In Spain, the [[Alfonso X]] manuscript ''[[Libro de los Juegos]]'', completed in 1283, describes rules for a number of dice and table games in addition to its discussion of [[chess]].<ref name="wollesen">{{cite journal|last=Wollesen|first=Jens T.|title=Sub specie ludi...: Text and Images in Alfonso El Sabio's Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas|journal=Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte|volume=53|issue=3|year=1990|pages=277–308|doi=10.2307/1482540|jstor=1482540}}</ref> By the 17th century, games at tables had spread to Sweden. A wooden board and counters were recovered from the wreck of the [[Regalskeppet Vasa|''Vasa'']] among the belongings of the ship's officers. Tables games appear widely in paintings of this period, mainly those of Dutch and German painters, such as [[Adriaen van Ostade|van Ostade]], [[Jan Steen]], [[Hieronymus Bosch]], and [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Bruegel]]. Among surviving artworks are [[Cardsharps (Caravaggio)|''Cardsharps'']] by [[Caravaggio]].

=== Backgammon ===

==== Early backgammon ====

Backgammon's immediate predecessor was the 16th century tables game of [[Irish (game)|Irish]].<ref name=Cram/> Irish was the Anglo-Scottish equivalent of the French ''Toutes Tables'' and Spanish ''Todas Tablas'', the latter name first being used in the 1283 ''[[El Libro de los Juegos]]'', a translation of Arabic manuscripts by the [[Toledo School of Translators]]. Irish had been popular at the Scottish court of James IV and considered to be "the more serious and solid game" when the variant which became known as Backgammon began to emerge in the first half of the 17th century.<ref name="Howell 1635, Vol. 2, No. 68"/>  In medieval Italy, [[Barail]] was played on a backgammon board, with the important difference that both players moved their pieces counter-clockwise and starting from the same side of the board.<ref>Murray, H.J.R. 1951. A History of Board-Games Other Than Chess. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 122</ref> The game rules for Barail are recorded in a 13th-century manuscript held in the Italian National Library in Florence.<ref>Ms National Library Florence, Banco Rari, 6 p. 2 no. 1</ref>
[[File:Darnica Gurieli by Christoforo de Castelli mid 17th century.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|A [[Georgians|Georgian]] [[noblewoman]] 
[[Danica (given name)|Darnica]] [[Gurieli]] with backgammon in the foreground, circa 1635]]
The earliest mention of backgammon, under the name ''Baggammon'', was by James Howell in a letter dated 1635.<ref>Howell (1650), p. 105.</ref>{{efn|The fact that this is the earliest mention is stated in Fiske (1905), p. 285.}} In English, the word "backgammon" is most likely derived from "back" and {{langx|enm|gamen}}, meaning "game" or "play". Meanwhile, the first use documented by the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1650.<ref name="oed">{{cite book|chapter=backgammon|title=The Oxford English Dictionary|edition=Second|url=http://dictionary.oed.com/|year=1989|access-date=2006-08-05|archive-date=2006-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625103623/http://dictionary.oed.com/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1666, it is reported that the "old name for backgammon used by Shakespeare and others" was Tables.<ref>Wheately (1666), p. 70.</ref> However, it is clear from Willughby that "tables" was a generic name and that the phrase "playing at tables" was used in a similar way to "playing at cards".<ref name=Willughby>Willughby (c. 1660-1672), entries for "Cards", "Tables", "Irish" and "Back Gammon."</ref> The first known rules of "Back Gammon" were produced by [[Francis Willughby|Francis Willoughby]] around 1672;<ref>Willughby (c. 1672)</ref> they were quickly followed by [[Charles Cotton]] in 1674.<ref>Cotton (1674), pp. 156–158.</ref>

[[Image:Hoyle-backgammon.png|thumb|upright=0.75|right|''A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon'']]

In the 16th century, Elizabethan laws and church regulations had prohibited "playing at tables" in England, but by the 18th century, Backgammon had superseded Irish and become popular among the English clergy.<ref name="murray"/> [[Edmond Hoyle]] published ''A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon'' in 1753; this described rules and strategy for the game and was bound together with a similar text on [[whist]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Allee|first=Sheila|url=http://www.utexas.edu/supportut/news_pub/yg_foreedge.html|title=A Foregone Conclusion: Fore-Edge Books Are Unique Additions to Ransom Collection|publisher=The University of Texas at Austin|access-date=2006-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621093338/http://www.utexas.edu/supportut/news_pub/yg_foreedge.html|archive-date=2006-06-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The early form of backgammon was very similar to its predecessor, Irish. The aim, board, number of pieces or "men", direction of play and starting layout were the same as in the modern game.{{efn|Charles Cotton (1674) gives an alternative starting layout as well as the familiar one.}} However, there was no doubling die, there was no bar on the board or the bar was not used (men simply being moved off the table when hit) and the scoring was different. The game was won double if either the winning throw was a doublet or the opponent still had men outside the home board. It was won triple if a player bore all men off before any of the opponent's men reached the home board; this was a ''back-gammon''. Some terminology, such as "point", "hitting a blot", "home", "doublet", "bear off" and "men" are recognisably the same as in the modern game; others, such as "binding a man" (adding a second man to a point) "binding up the tables" (taking all one's first 6 points), "fore game", "latter game", "nipping a man" (hitting a blot and playing it on forwards) "playing at length" (using both dice to move one man) are no longer in vogue.<ref name=Cotton>Cotton (1674), pp. 154–185.</ref><ref name=Willughby/>

==== Modern backgammon ====

By no later than 1850, the rules of play had changed to those used today. Tables boards were now made with a "bar" in the centre and men that were hit went onto the bar. Winning double or by "two hits" was achieved by bearing all one's men off before the other has borne {{nowrap|any{{hsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{hsp}}this was now called a ''gammon''. If the winner bore off all men while the loser still had men in his adversary's table, it was a ''back-gammon'' and worth "three hits", i.e., triple.<ref>Bohn (1850), pp. 380 ff.</ref>

The most recent major development in backgammon was the addition of the doubling cube. Doubles had originally been recorded by placing "common parlour matches" on the bar in the centre of the board.<ref>''The Retail Bookseller'' (1930). p. 34.</ref> A doubling cube was first introduced in the 1920s in New York City among members of gaming clubs in the Lower East Side.<ref name="robertie-501">{{cite book|last=Robertie|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Robertie|title=501 Essential Backgammon Problems|edition=Second Printing|year=2002|page=22|publisher=Cardoza|isbn=978-1-58042-019-8}}</ref> The cube required players not only to select the best move in a given position, but also to estimate the probability of winning from that position, transforming backgammon into the [[expected value]]-driven game played in the 20th and 21st centuries.<ref name="robertie-501"/>

The popularity of backgammon surged in the mid-1960s, in part due to the charisma of [[Prince Alexis Obolensky]] who became known as "The Father of Modern Backgammon".<ref name=GAM>{{cite web|url=http://www.gammonlife.com/news/the_inventor_of_doubling_in_backgammon.htm|title=The Inventor of Doubling in Backgammon|website=www.gammonlife.com}}</ref> "Obe", as he was called by friends, co-founded the International Backgammon Association,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gammonvillage.com/backgammon/news/article_display.cfm?resourceid=937|title=The Father Of Modern Backgammon - GammonVillage Magazine|website=www.gammonvillage.com}}</ref> which published a set of official rules. He also established the World Backgammon Club of Manhattan, devised a backgammon tournament system in 1963, then organized the first major international backgammon tournament in March 1964, which attracted royalty, celebrities and the press. The game became a huge fad and was played on college campuses, in discothèques and at country clubs;<ref name=GAM/> stockbrokers and bankers began playing at conservative men's clubs.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Urge to Play Backgammon Sweeping Men's Clubs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/01/13/archives/an-old-old-game-gains-new-favor-urge-to-play-backgammon-sweeping.html?sq=Tim%2520Holland%2520backgammon&scp=14&st=cse|quote=A disk and dice game that has been played in Middle Eastern streets for thousands of years, in English homes for hundreds of years, and on Bronx stoops for dozens of years has suddenly gripped the bankers and brokers of old-line men's clubs all over town.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 13, 1966|access-date=2010-09-10 }}</ref> People young and old all across the country dusted off their boards and pieces. Cigarette, liquor and car companies began to sponsor tournaments, and [[Hugh Hefner]] held backgammon parties at the [[Playboy Mansion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.play65.com/World-Backgammon-Championships-History.html|title=World Backgammon Championships History - Backgammon Masters - Backgammon Articles' Categories - Play65™|website=www.play65.com}}</ref> Backgammon clubs were formed and tournaments were held, resulting in a World Championship promoted in Las Vegas in 1967.<ref name=PLAY65/>

In the second half of the 20th century, new terms were introduced in America, such as 'beaver' and 'checkers' for men (although American backgammon experts [[Oswald Jacoby|Jacoby]] and [[John R. Crawford|Crawford]] continued to use both the older terms as well as the new ones).<ref>Jacoby & Crawford (1970), pp. 55 & 188.</ref>

Most recently, the United States Backgammon Federation (USBGF) was organized in 2009 to repopularize the game in the United States. Board and committee members include many of the top players, tournament directors and writers in the worldwide backgammon community. The USBGF has recently created Standards of Ethical Practice<ref>{{Cite web|title=Standards of Ethical Practice|url=https://usbgf.org/standards-of-ethical-practice/|access-date=2022-12-29|website=U.S. Backgammon Federation|language=en-US}}</ref> to address issues on which tournament rules fail to touch.

In its country of origin, the UK Backgammon Federation is the national authority and runs a backgammon {{nowrap|championship{{tsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{tsp}}the Backgammon Galaxy UK Open {{nowrap|Tournament{{tsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{tsp}}as well as club championships, online leagues and knockout tournaments. Like the USBGF they are active members of the [[World Backgammon Federation]] (WBF) and their tournament rules have been adopted in their entirety by the WBF.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What Is The UKBGF?|url=https://ukbgf.com/what-is-the-ukbgf/|access-date=2022-12-29|website=UKBGF|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==== Software ====
{{Anchor|Computer backgammon}}

Backgammon entered the computer era in the 1990s when software was developed to play and analyze games, and for people to play one another over the internet.

*''Johnson's Expert Backgammon'', introduced in 1990, was the first commercially available software package to analyze positions and provide stats for wins, losses, gammons, and backgammons.  It was based on conventional programming techniques and only achieved a level of play of weak intermediate.<ref name=Bagai>https://static1.squarespace.com/static/536b3994e4b0ef7a9fb66678/t/536d60b5e4b0561102297915/1399677109882/introcbr.pdf</ref>
*''TD-Gammon'', written by Gerry Tesauro at IBM, used [[neural net]] techniques that allowed it to ''learn'' based on experience.  A full package with [[Rollout (backgammon)|rollouts]] was never released to the public.<ref name=Bagai />
*''JellyFish'', written by Fredriik Dahl and released in 1994, was the first commercially available software based on neural networks, and like TD-Gammon its play approached or surpassed that of the best human players.<ref name=Bagai />
*''Snowie'', written by André Nicoulin and Olivier Egger and released in 1998, was a neural-net program that had similar playing strength to its neural net predecessors, but had a more advanced user interface; in particular it could analyze an entire match instead of just one move at a time.<ref name=Bagai />
*''gnubg'', written by many programmers as part of the [[gnu]] free software project, was released in 2001.  It has a similar strength to JellyFish, but is free software.  It is still supported and is available for Windows, macOS and most varieties of Linux. Since it is open-source, the source code is publicly available.<ref>https://www.gnu.org/software/gnubg/</ref><ref>https://bkgm.com/gnu/AllAboutGNU.html</ref>
*''[[eXtreme Gammon]]'', written by Xavier Dufaure de Citres and released in 2009, is available for Windows and mobile platforms. According to the ''[[Financial Times]]'', the program is the best backgammon player in the world, and the near-exclusive study tool for all serious backgammon players.<ref name="FT">{{Cite news |last=Roeder |first=Oliver |date=2023-07-28 |title=Backgammon's AI super-brain is for sale |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4c01969d-4d79-4feb-8e4f-bfa9833ddfea |access-date=2023-08-01}}</ref>

Real-time online play began with the First Internet Backgammon Server in July 1992,<ref name="fibs-hist">{{cite web|last=Schneider|first=Andreas|url=http://www.fibs.com/guide.html#history|title=Brief history of FIBS|publisher=FIBS, the First Internet Backgammon Server|access-date=2006-08-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813210439/http://www.fibs.com/guide.html#history|archive-date=2006-08-13|url-status=dead|display-authors=etal}}</ref> but there are now a range of options.<ref>https://ukbgf.com/backgammon-resources/online-backgammon-sites/</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Keith|first=Tom|title=Backgammon Play Sites|url=http://www.bkgm.com/servers.html|publisher=Backgammon Galore!|access-date=6 March 2017}}</ref>