In which of these board games does the player attempt to remove their own counters from the board?

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games known. It is a two player game where playing pieces are moved according to the roll of dice, and a player wins by removing all of their pieces from the board before their opponent. Backgammon is a member of the tables family, one of the oldest classes of board games.

Backgammon involves a combination of strategy and luck (from rolling dice). While the dice may determine the outcome of a single game, the better player will accumulate the better record over series of many games, somewhat like poker. With each roll of the dice, players must choose from numerous options for moving their checkers and anticipate possible counter-moves by the opponent. The optional use of a doubling cube allows players to raise the stakes during the game.

Like chess, backgammon has been studied with great interest by computer scientists. Owing to this research, backgammon software has been developed that is capable of beating world-class human players (see TD-Gammon for an example).

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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43 Comments

Diana Newman

Don't understand why it is a poorly worded question Gery Tillmanns. I understood the question perfectly. Brilliant game to play.

Steven Ernest Scott

I remember my grandparents had the game, but it sat, unopened for a year, because the book that came with it was SO thick, that they thought they would never be able to get it. One day, I heard about a 1/2 Backgammon Lesson after school. I told my grandparents about it, and they were skeptical. {Again, they were thinking about that THICK book and thought that 1/2 hour would not be enough to learn the game.} Well, I DID get the basics of the game. Then I taught it to my grandparents, and they played for YEARS after that. Occasionally, I would see one of them looking though the book to see what was in there that made it SO thick. Even after my grandfather passed away, my grandmother played it with her son {My uncle}.

Ma Bales

I never understood that game, it was always on back of the checkers !

Patricia Hawes

Why don't I just stick with my initial answer?

Tallia Gluck

Backgammon is also called sesh besh!

Paul Anstett

The optional use of a doubling cube not only allows players to raise the stakes in the game but is really used as a weapon to force the opponent out of the game or into conceding the game! The doubling cube has actually introduced psychology to the ancient game.

Rita Mc Grath Dussault

Steven Earnest Scott That was a charming story about your grandparents and the game. What did make the bloody book so thick. Certainly would make one hesitant to try and learn how to play it.