Editing Tables game (section)

==History==
Numerous archaeological discoveries witness to game boards and artefacts bearing a strong resemblance to those used in [[race games]] and ancient texts give an idea of their play in some cases. These bilateral race games may well be the ancestors of the tables game family. They include the Alea, [[Dogs and Jackals]], [[Duodecim Scripta]], the Game of Twenty, Grammai, the [[Royal Game of Ur]], [[Senet]] and [[Nard (game)|Nard]].

The history of tables games may be divided into different periods of development:<ref>Parlett (1999), pp. 74–75</ref><ref>Fiske (1909), p. 173.</ref>

* Pre-classical period:{{efn|Parlett says "prehistoric" but means that period of ancient history before the 8th century BC.}} [[Grammai]] and other early race games
* [[Classical antiquity|Classical period]]: notably [[Ludus duodecim scriptorum]] and [[Tabula (game)|Tabula]]
* [[Nard (game)|Nard]] period: from its invention or earliest appearance in Southwestern Asia (or Persia) before AD 800
* Tables period: tables games from their arrival in Spain or Italy from the Arabic world around the turn of the first millennium
* Modern period: the rise of more sophisticated games from the 15th century onwards including [[Trictrac]] and Backgammon

=== Pre-classical period ===
==== Persia ====
The history of [[tables games]] and their [[race game]] forerunners can be traced back nearly 5,000 years to Persia,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.payvand.com/news/04/dec/1029.html|title=World's Oldest Backgammon Discovered In Burnt City|website=www.payvand.com}}</ref><ref name="wilkinson"/><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="Bray2011">{{cite book |last=Bray |first=Chris |title=Backgammon For Dummies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SoloeOOtSkC&pg=PP31 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |date=14 February 2011 |pages=31– |isbn=978-1-119-99674-3}}</ref><ref name="Bray2012">{{cite book |last=Bray |first=Chris |title=Backgammon to Win |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6PfAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |publisher=Lulu Com |year=2012 |pages=6– |isbn=978-1-291-01965-0}}</ref> where excavations in 2006 at the [[Shahr-i Sokhta|Burnt City]] unearthed objects that appear to be part of a game set dating to around 3000 BC. These artefacts include an ebony board, two dice and 60 pieces, with the playing fields represented by the coils of a serpent. The rules of this game, like others found in Egypt, have yet to be discovered. It is, however, made from ebony, a material more likely to be found in the [[Indian subcontinent]], which indicates such board games may be more widespread than once thought.<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>{{cite web |title=Burnt City: World's oldest "Backgammon" Game? – Dr. Kaveh Farrokh |url=https://www.kavehfarrokh.com/news/burnt-city-worlds-oldest-backgammon-game/}}</ref>

==== Mesopotamia ====
Prior to the Persian discovery, the oldest board game sets had been found in [[Ur]] and are thought to be around 100 to 200 years later. They were used for the [[Royal Game of Ur]], played in ancient [[Mesopotamia]]. These finds are significant because of two Babylonian tablets with cuneiform descriptions of the game played on these game sets, the later one dated {{Circa|177 BC}} and the other one dating to several centuries earlier.<ref name=Finkel>Finkel (2007), p. 22.</ref> These represent the oldest rule sets of any [[race game]] and clearly show this Sumerian game to be ancestral to the tables game family.<ref>{{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>{{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>

==== Egypt ====
Another ancient race game was [[Senet]], played by the [[ancient Egypt]]ians around the same time.<ref>Hayes, William C. "Egyptian Tomb Reliefs of the Old Kingdom", ''The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin'', New Series 4:7. March 1946. pp 170–178.</ref> Board fragments that could be Senet have been found in [[First dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]] burials in Egypt,<ref name="Piccione">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/index.html |title=In search of the meaning of Senet |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080918080211/http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/index.html |archive-date=2008-09-18 |first=Peter A. |last=Piccione |website=Games Museum |publisher=University of Waterloo |place=Canada}}</ref> {{circa|3100 BC}}, but the first painting of this ancient game is from the [[Third Dynasty]] ({{Circa|2686}}–2613 BC). People are depicted playing Senet in a painting in the tomb of Rashepes, as well as other tombs dating to {{Circa|2500 BC}}.<ref name="Metha">{{cite journal |author1=Metha Melissa Wijoyono |author2=Alvin Raditya |title=Perancangan Permainan Media Edukasi Sebagai Pembelajaran Cara Melindungi Diri Dalam Menghadapi Bencana Alam Bagi Anak Usia 7–12 Tahun |journal=Jurnal DKV Adiwarna |date=10 July 2014 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=12 |url=http://publication.petra.ac.id/index.php/dkv/article/view/2021 |language=Id}}</ref> The oldest complete Senet boards date to the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]].<ref name=":0">{{cite thesis |title=The Historical Development of the Game of Senet and its Significance for Ancient Egyptian Religion |last=Piccione |first=Peter A. |degree=PhD (unpublished) |publisher=University of Chicago |year=1990 |location=Chicago}}</ref>

Senet was played in neighbouring cultures, probably arriving there through trade links with the Egyptians.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Crist |first1=Walter |display-authors=etal |year=2016 |title=Facilitating Interaction: Board Games as Social Lubricants in the Ancient Near East |journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=179–196 |doi=10.1111/ojoa.12084}}</ref> It has been found in the [[Levant]] at sites such as [[Tel Arad|Arad]]<ref name="Sebbane">{{cite journal |last=Sebbane |first=Michael |year=2001 |title=Board Games from Canaan in the Early and Intermediate Bronze Ages and the Origin of the Egyptian Senet Game |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=213–230 |doi=10.1179/tav.2001.2001.2.213|s2cid=162219908 }}</ref> and [[Byblos]], as well as in [[Cyprus]].<ref>{{cite book | title=The Kent State Expedition to Episkopi-Phaneromeni | publisher=Paul Astroms Forlag | last=Swiny | first=Stuart | year=1986 | location=Nicosia | isbn=9186098403}}</ref> Because of the local practice of making games out of stone, more Senet games have survived in Cyprus than in Egypt.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ancient Egyptians at Play: Board Games across Borders |last1=Crist |first1=Walter |display-authors=etal |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-4742-2117-7}}</ref>

=== Classical period ===
[[File:Tabula - boardgame - Zeno game.svg|thumb|upright=1.10|right|The situation in Zeno's game of tabula when he had an unlucky dice throw]]

==== Byzantine Empire ====
[[Tabula (game)|Tabula]] (also called [[Alea (game)|Alea]], ''Tablē'' or ''Tάβλι''{{efn|Meaning 'table' or 'board' in [[Byzantine Greek]]}}), is the oldest identifiable tables game. It 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> It had the typical tables board layout with 24 rectangular [[point (tables game)|points]], 12 on each side. Each player had 15 [[men (tables game)|men]] and used cubical [[dice]] with sides numbered one to six.<ref name="austin-zeno" /> The object of the game was to be the first to [[bear off]] all of one's men.<ref name="austin-zeno" /><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> Modern backgammon follows similar rules to those of tabula, the key differences being that tabula uses an extra die (three rather than two), there is no [[doubling die]] or bar, and all the [[tablemen]] start off the board. Interestingly, the rules in backgammon for re-entering pieces from the [[bar (tables games)|bar]] are the same as those in tabula for entering [[piece (tables game)|pieces]] from off the board, along with those for hitting a blot, and bearing off.<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 {{lang|el|τάβλη}} is still used for tables games in Greece, where they are frequently played in town [[plateia]]s and cafes.<ref name="koukoules">{{cite book|last=Koukoules|first=Phaidon|author-link=|title=Vyzantinon Vios kai Politismos|year=1948|volume=1|pages=200–204|publisher=Collection de l'institut français d'Athènes}}</ref> The epigram of Zeno describes a particularly bad dice roll the emperor had for his given position. Zeno, who was white, had a [[stack (tables game)|stack]] of seven men, three stacks of two men and two [[blot (tables game)|blots]], men that stood alone on a point and were therefore in danger of being put outside the board by an incoming opposing man. Zeno threw the three dice with which the game was played and obtained 2, 5 and 6. The rules meant that Zeno could not move to a [[space (tables game)|space]] occupied by two opposing (black) men. The black and white tablemen were so distributed on the points that the only way to use all three results, as required by the game rules, was to break the three stacks of two men into blots, exposing them and ruining the game for Zeno.<ref name="austin-zeno" /><ref name="bell" />

==== Roman Empire ====
[[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 {{lang|grc-x-medieval|τάβλι}} of 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" /> {{Lang|la|Duodecim scriptorum}} used a board with three rows of 12 points each, with the 15 men 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 play of {{lang|la|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 {{Lang|la|[[Ars Amatoria]]}} ("The Art of Love"), written between 1 BC and 8 AD. In Roman times, this game was also known as ''Alea'', and a likely apocryphal Latin story linked this name, and the game, to a [[Troy|Trojan]] soldier named [[Alea (Greek soldier)|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>
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=== Nard period ([[Middle Ages]]) ===
==== Middle East ====
[[File:Buzurgmihr-nard.jpg|thumb|[[Burzoe]] demonstrates the game of [[nard (game)|nard]] to the Indian [[Raja]]s]]
In the 11th century [[Shahnameh]], the [[Persia]]n poet [[Ferdowsi]] credits [[Borzuya]] with the invention of the game of [[nard (game)|Nard]] in the 6th century. He describes an encounter between Borzuya and a [[Raja]] visiting from [[India]]. The Raja introduces the game of [[chess]], and Borzuya demonstrates Nard, played with dice made from [[ivory]] and [[teak]].<ref name="wilkinson">Wilkinson, Charles K. "Chessmen and Chess", ''The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin''. New Series 1:9, May 1943. pp. 271–279</ref>

Meanwhile, Persian tradition places the invention of nard in the 3rd or even 6th century AD. The name of the game nard is an abbreviated version of the original Persian name ''nardšir''. The Middle-Persian text, ''Kār-nāmag ī Ardaxšēr ī Pāpakān'', associates the invention of nard with [[Ardashir I]] (r. 224–41), the founder of the [[Sasanian dynasty]], whereas in the Middle Persian narrative ''Wičārišn ī čatrang ud nihišn ī nēw-ardaxšēr'' (Explanation of Chess and the Invention of Nardshir) it is [[Bozorgmehr Bokhtagan]], the vizier of [[Khosrow I]] (r. 531–79), who is credited with the invention of the game.<ref name="Iranica board game"/>

==== East Asia ====
[[File:Backgammon set,around the 10th century, China.JPG|thumb|upright=1.10|Table game set from around the 10th century, China]]
Nard was popular in China for a time and was known as "shuanglu" ({{lang|zh|雙陸/双陆}}, {{lang|zh-Latn|shuānglù}}). Shuanglu came from western India to China during the [[Cao Wei|Wei dynasty]] and was a significant table game during the [[Liang dynasty|Liang]], [[Chen dynasty|Chen]], [[Sui dynasty|Sui]], [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], and [[Qi Dynasty (937-939)|Qi]] dynasties.<ref name="GuoEymanSun">{{Cite book |last=Guo |first=Li |title=Games & Play in Chinese & Sinophone Cultures |url= https://uw.manifoldapp.org/system/actioncallout/b/e/a/bea1a223-e494-401c-b2b6-8a1d910e1910/attachment/911d70bd22c9daec91df4300ad25e4b1.pdf |last2=Eyman |first2=Douglas |last3=Sun |first3=Hongmei |date=2024 |publisher=[[University of Washington Press]] |isbn=9780295752402 |editor-last=Guo |editor-first=Li |location=Seattle, WA |pages=7 |chapter=Introduction |editor-last2=Eyman |editor-first2=Douglas |editor-last3=Sun |editor-first3=Hongmei}}</ref> The book {{lang|zh-Latn|Pǔ Shuāng}} ({{lang|zh|譜雙}}) written during the [[Southern Song]] period (1127–1279) recording over ten variants. Over time it was replaced by other games such as ''[[xiangqi]]'' (Chinese chess).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.cctv.com/special/zgctty/20070605/107991.shtml|title=CCTV.com-[博弈篇]舶来棋戏——双陆|website=news.cctv.com}}</ref>

In Japan, ''[[sugoroku|ban-sugoroku]]'' is thought to have been brought from China in the 6th century, and is mentioned in [[Genji monogatari]]. As a gambling game, it was made illegal several times.<ref>[http://www.sugoroku.net/history_e/history6.html Origin of Sugoroku in Japan], sugoroku.net</ref> In the early [[Edo]] era, a new and fast gambling game called ''[[Chō-han]]'' appeared and ''sugoroku'' quickly dwindled. By the 13th century, the board game [[Go (game)|Go]], originally played only by the aristocracy, had become popular among the general public.<ref name=HistJapan3>{{cite web|url=http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/lesson/knowledge-e/history03.htm|publisher=[[Nihon Kiin]]|title=History of Go in Japan: part 3|access-date=2007-11-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114231823/http://www.nihonkiin.or.jp/lesson/knowledge-e/history03.htm|archive-date=14 November 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In Korea, a similar game exists known as {{lang|ko-Latn|Ssang-ryuk}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=쌍륙 – 문화콘텐츠닷컴 |url=https://www.culturecontent.com/content/contentView.do?content_id=cp020500930001 |website=www.culturecontent.com |access-date=7 November 2021}}</ref>

==== Europe ====
[[Image:Codex Manesse 262v Herr Goeli.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|left|The poet [[Herr Goeli]] playing, from the 14th century [[Codex Manesse]]]]
In [[English language|English]], the word "tables" is derived from [[Latin]] ''tabula''. Its first use referring to board games documented by the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] was circa AD 700.<ref name="oed1">"table, n.", ''[http://dictionary.oed.com The Oxford English Dictionary].'' Second Edition, 1989. (Subscription required)</ref>

The [[Gloucester tabula set]], Discovered on the site of [[Gloucester Castle]] in 1983, with its [[obelisk]] shaped points provides a potential transitional phase between the Roman square points, and the triangular points that were common in the 13th century.

The {{lang|fr|jeux de tables}} ('Games of Tables') first appeared in France during the 11th century and became a favorite pastime of gamblers. In 1254, [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] issued a decree prohibiting his court officials and subjects from playing.<ref name="murray"/><ref name="lillich"/> Tables games were played in Germany in the 12th century, and had reached [[Iceland]] by the 13th century. In [[Spain]], the [[Alfonso X]] manuscript {{lang|es|[[Libro de los juegos]]}}, completed in 1283, describes rules for a number of dice and table games in addition to its extensive discussion of chess.<ref name="wollesen">Wollesen, Jens T. "Sub specie ludi...: Text and Images in Alfonso El Sabio's Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'' 53:3, 1990. pp. 277–308.</ref> Tables games were played in Germany in the 12th century, and had reached [[Iceland]] by the 13th century.

In 1254, [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] issued a decree prohibiting his court officials and subjects from playing dice games.<ref name="lillich">Lillich, Meredith Parsons. "The Tric-Trac Window of Le Mans", ''The Art Bulletin'' 65:1, March 1983. pp. 23–33.</ref>

Mediaeval tables should not be confused with ''[[Tafl games|Tafl]]'', an unrelated class of board games (albeit linguistically related) played in medieval Scandinavia. [[Tâb]] and tablan<ref>[http://www.cyningstan.com/data-download/230/tablan-leaflet ''Tablan''] at cyningstan.com. Retrieved 7 July 2022.</ref> (as well as the related games [[sáhkku]] and [[daldøs]]) may, on the other hand, be descendants of tabula.

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=== Modern period ===
==== Europe ====
By the 17th century, table games 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]]. Some surviving artworks are [[Cardsharps (Caravaggio)|''Cardsharps'']] by [[Caravaggio]] (the tables board is in the lower left) and ''[[The Triumph of Death]]'' by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]] (the tables board is in the lower right). Others include [[Hell (Bosch)|''Hell'' (Bosch)]] and [[c:File:Jan Steen - The Interior of an Inn ('The Broken Eggs') NG NG NG5637.jpg|''Interior of an Inn'']] by Jan Steen.
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==== The rise of Backgammon ====
[[Image:Hoyle-backgammon.png|thumb|upright=0.95|right|''A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon'', by [[Edmond Hoyle]]]]
{{Main|Backgammon}}
The earliest known mention of Backgammon was in a letter dated 1635 and it was a variant of the popular mediaeval Anglo-Scottish game of [[Irish (game)|Irish]]. By the 19th century it had superseded other tables games in popularity and spread abroad to Europe and America. The scoring rules have changed over time and a doubling cube added that enables players to raise the stakes.

Backgammon's predecessor was the tables game of Irish, which was popular at the Scottish court of James IV and considered "the more serious and solid game" when Backgammon began to emerge in the first half of the 17th century.<ref>Howell (1635), Vol. 2, No. 68.</ref> In the 16th century, [[Elizabethan]] laws and church regulations had prohibited playing tables in England, but by the 18th century, tables games were on the rise again and 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>

In English, the word "backgammon" is most likely derived from "back" and {{langx|enm|gamen}}, meaning "game" or "play". The earliest mention of the game, which was under the name of ''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.}}  Meanwhile, the first use documented by the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] was in 1650.<ref name="oed2">{{cite book|chapter=backgammon|title=The Oxford English Dictionary |edition=Second |url=http://dictionary.oed.com |year=1989|access-date=2006-08-05}}</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>[[File:The Backgammon Players - Theodoor Rombouts - Google Cultural Institute.jpg|thumb|''The Backgammon Players'' by [[Theodoor Rombouts]], 1634]]The most recent major development in backgammon was the addition of the doubling cube. It 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 "checkers". Cigarette, liquor and car companies began to sponsor tournaments, and [[Hugh Hefner]] held backgammon parties at the [[Playboy Mansion]].<ref name="PLAY65">{{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, Nevada|Las Vegas]] in 1967.<ref name="PLAY65" />

Most recently, the [[United States Backgammon Federation]] (USBGF) was organized in 2009 to re-popularize 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 a [http://usbgf.org/standards-of-ethical-practice/ Standards of Ethical Practice] to address issues which tournament rules fail to touch.