Backgammon is one of the oldest known board games for two players. Its history can be traced back nearly 5,000 years to archaeological discoveries in Mesopotamia. It is a game of racing combined with blocking and hitting.
Concepts & Symbolism
The Dance of Entropy (The Wheel of Fortune Parallel)
Backgammon is the perfect marriage of Skill and Chance.
- The dice represent the unpredictable forces of the universe—The Wheel of Fortune.
- The strategy represents the player’s ability to maximize the good rolls and mitigate the bad ones. It is a meditation on Stoicism.
The Doubling Cube (The Devil Parallel)
In modern Backgammon, the Doubling Cube allows players to raise the stakes.
- This introduces the element of Risk & Greed, paralleling The Devil.
- It forces a player to confront their own confidence and the objective reality of the board.
Basic Rules
- Objective: Move all your checkers (15 in total) into your own home board and then “bear them off” the board.
- Movement: Moves are determined by two six-sided dice.
- Hitting: Landing on a square with only one opponent’s checker (a “blot”) sends that checker to the “bar,” forcing them to restart.
- Anchors: Having two or more checkers on a square creates an “anchor,” which the opponent cannot land on.
Skill Progression
- The Roller (Beginner): Focuses on moving as far as possible every turn. Often leaves blots exposed.
- The Blocker (Intermediate): Learns the “Prime”—building a wall of 6 anchors in a row, which is impossible for the opponent to jump over.
- The Equity Master (Advanced): Understands the game in terms of “probability and pips.” They know exactly when the “racing lead” is strong enough to offer a double and can calculate the percentage chance of being hit versus the chance of a safe escape.
TIP
Backgammon is often called “the cruelest game” because a single pair of double-sixes at the very end can overturn an entire game of superior strategy.