Backgammon

Overview

Backgammon is a 2-player strategy board game thought to have originated nearly 5,000 years ago somewhere in the middle east. Players take alternating turns moving chips around the board using two 6-sided dice. Each player starts with 15 chips (stones) and the board consists of 24 triangles called points. There is a lot of strategy, and computer engines can always determine the best moves based on mathematical probabilities.

The game is commonly played in match formats where the first player to obtain a certain amount of points wins. An interesting element to backgammon is its use of a doubling cube which allows players to challenge each other by doubling the value of the game. The value can be points in a match or even money in games where betting is involved.