How to play backgammon, or Tournament length of 5000 years.

Backgammon is officially considered the oldest game on the planet. They are more than five thousand years old, and they have a symbolic and astronomical meaning. First of all, the number of checkers in the game is 30 (15 for each player), by the number of days in a month. The sum of the faces of the cubes is 7 - the magic number of most world religions.

The number of game sections for each player is 12, and in total - 24, the number of months in a year and hours in a day. It is no accident that our ancestors attributed magical features to this game, according to the results of the game, fateful state decisions were made, and accessories of this game made of precious wood were made, inlaid with ivory and semiprecious stones. The ability to play backgammon was considered a must-have skill along with chess and the ability to swim. Even in the tomb of Tutankhamun was found a set for playing backgammon.

Today this game takes on a new life, becomes a popular sport with the holding of championships and international tournaments.

Consider how to play backgammon, according to official rules.

First, we'll learn the game board. The kit includes a flat wooden box with 24 cells for checkers, two sets of checkers of different colors (preferably contrast) and two dice. Bones (or zaras, as they are called in backgammon) must first go through the test run, which consists in their trial casting up to 100 times and recording the results. This is done in order to avoid an uneven distribution of the drop-out results. It is desirable that each value falls out an equal number of times. If this is not so, then the dens change to new ones.

Those who know how to play backgammon understand that a beginner can win from a professional due to luck in the bunk. Well, that's all for the man. However, such luck is usually not reinforced in tournaments. The final result depends on the skill of the player, on the ability to choose the right strategy, to navigate the changing situation and quickly respond to the opponent's moves.

For those who do not know how to play backgammon, let's briefly outline the principles of the game.

First of all, there are two types of game: long backgammon and short ones. These names, most likely, are related to the original layout of the checkers, and not at all to the time of the game as such. Short backgammon is more unpredictable and one game can last much longer than a game of long backgammon.

So, how to play long backgammon.

The principle is to move your checkers as quickly as possible from the base zone of the "house" to the "yard" zone and get to the starting position. All 15 checkers are placed in a line and you can take only one checker per turn. At the same time, it is necessary to make it as difficult as possible to pass the opponent's checkers, trying to occupy as many free fields as possible. In the case of long backgammon, everything is extremely simple. The situation is different with the short version.

In order to understand how to play short backgammon, you need to know the basics of long, but the initial layout of the checkers and tactics of this game is significantly different in that the checkers should be placed together - otherwise the opponent at the first opportunity will beat an unprotected lone checker that is placed in the middle of the field "Bar" and thrown into the "house", from where it must again go all the way to the "yard". That is why the result of the game becomes unpredictable, and, it would seem, a successful game can be lost.

Tip for beginners: if you do not know how to play backgammon, play with a spark, savoring the process of communicating with the enemy, "talking" the barns, trying to get the most pleasure from this ancient game. After all, by and large - this is just a game. Great and ancient, as our civilization.