Move 15 Checkers and Win

Folks I’d like to take a few moments to go over some of the basics of the game that has everyone gripped by its awesome gaming potential. Backgammon is more than a game of dice rolling; it’s a game of insight, strategy and gaining a psychological edge over your opponent. A cursory glance at a standard backgammon board could prove somewhat misleading to many folks because it over-simplifies what is a really exciting and oftentimes complex game. At its heart, backgammon is a game where two players go at it – one against the other. The game playing board features 15 gaming pieces that are termed checkers. That’s standard across all games of backgammon. In addition, there are some 24 points on each and every backgammon board consisting of triangles (points). There are 12 for one player and 12 for the other player. But it gets even more interesting here because there are 4 key parts. These are the home board and an inner-board.

What are some of the key elements to remember when you’re starting off playing backgammon?

I’ve seen a lot of games being played where players are keen to race through the games with little or no regard for playing correctly. The good news is that there are ways to play the game well at a rate of knots. The goal is naturally to move your 15 checkers off the board as quickly as possible. You will want to block or hinder your opponent’s progress while you’re doing this. Of course it’s imperative that you roll the dice and move your pieces off the board as quickly as possible. There is a great deal of skill involved (not so much in rolling the dice but in deciding which pieces to move off the board) so take the time to learn the rules and best playing strategies. Many backgammon players fancy themselves as possessing similar skill levels to those of chess players and this sweeping statement is not without merit. Incidentally the game of backgammon shares the same pool of players as poker players. And it makes lots of sense because they are both games of skill with an element of luck thrown in for good measure.

In order to move forward, we need to understand the game’s rich history

I’ve done lots of reading into this exciting game’s history and I’ve noted that it’s been around since 3,500 B.C. Now that’s ancient by anyone’s admission and it certainly explains why so many players enjoy this game. It is rumored that the ancient Egyptians and Romans first played this game. Since the 1970s however this game has exploded onto the international scene and since the 1990s (the Internet boom) this game now reaches millions of players all over the world.