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Angala, Mangala, Palalangala, Dobrich!
Pitcairn saying for moving doubles.

The history of the game.

  1. The seventies

    80% skill, 20% luck, 150% style! The seventies. The golden era of backgammon. Wildly patterned silk shirts, plenty of glitter and the odd sleazy character. Pips Club LA, Studio 54, Vegas: yes, backgammon was once a disco game and the done thing. A few games and a few notes changing hands between charming rogues and the stars and starlets of pop culture. Names like Hugh Hefner, Muhammad Ali, Lucille Ball, Diana Ross and Tina Turner lend the game the shine of that era to this day.

    But the game itself is far older. The oldest board is a good 5,000 years old. According to the Greek philosopher Plato, backgammon (Greek: Tavli) represents the movement of the earth and the planets, while chess represents war. Many stories have grown up around it. Some of them are worth telling, or philosophising about at the table. Have fun with it!

    Cover of the 1979 Las Vegas Backgammon Magazine with Tina Turner behind a board.

  2. Medieval

    Rogues and ladies of the night Did you know that modern backgammon is a direct descendant of the medieval “Wurfzabel”, and that it was generally played in brothels? The German word “Puff” for a brothel goes back to the sound of the dice rolling across the playing surface.

    Medieval illumination: two players over a red-orange Wurfzabel board.

  3. 1983

    Legendary James Bond and Kamal Khan play backgammon in Octopussy (1983)

    Film still from Octopussy: James Bond and Kamal Khan at the backgammon board.

  4. c. 500 CE

    Life, the Universe and Everything According to the Babylonian Talmud (c. 500 CE) there is a cosmological symbolism behind the design of the board:

    The board represents a year, with the 12 points of each half standing for the months of the year. The 24 points together symbolise the hours of a day, and the 30 checkers stand for the days of a month. The contrasting colours of the checkers symbolise day and night, and the sum of any two opposite faces of a die stands for the 7 days of a week.

    In: H. J. R., Murray, "A History of Board-Games other than Chess", Oxford University, Clarendon Press, 1952, p. 115.

Good dice have names 6-5 “Lovers Leap” or “Sheshbesh” 1-1 “Snake Eyes” 2-2 “Double Ducks” or “Quacks” 4-4 “Quads” 5-5 “The Girls” 6-6 “The Boys” or “Boxes”

Illustration: two thrown dice.
“There are no bad rolls, there are only bad moves”
Truism.

  1. 1995

    Backgammon dogs are the new cats! MADONNA plays backgammon against a dog in a Versace ad photographed by Steven Meisel in 1995. (Source: chicagopoint)

    Black and white Versace ad: Madonna plays backgammon against a Doberman.

  2. 2018

    Joda, a canine youngster at our fortnightly Gammon Gonzos Berlin backgammon tournament. (Photo: “Loca & Joda thinking” by Daniella Fay, 2018)

    Photo: a puppy sits beside a backgammon tournament in progress.
“It's a dog eat dog competition (no doubt)”
De La Soul

  1. Backgammaniacs are inventive! Creativity on point: some checkers missing? No problem, just replace them with matchsticks and off you go… Leipzig Streetgammon Style!

    Photo: a board on which missing checkers have been replaced by matchsticks.Hand-painted white lettering “yayay! ANGALA MANGALA” over black point silhouettes.

The rules of backgammon.

Learn how to play Backgammon like a pro – from basic rules to the magic of the Doubling Cube.

Read the rules

Strategy for beginners and up.

First: Play often! Next, improve your strategy skills with the BIG FIVE: Blitz, Running, Holding, Priming and the mighty Back Game.

Read the strategy guide

Glossary of backgammon.

Our glossary explains the most important terms of backgammon jargon.

Look up a term