In the 1970’s, it was estimated that nearly every American household owned a copy of the common backgammon board. Over the years, backgammon has remained a consistently popular game around the world. Yet who could have imagined that people would one day be able to play their favorite board game online?

Internet backgammon has helped bring the game to a brand new audience and has rekindled the interest of older backgammon fans. Even if you belong to one of the generations that didn’t grow up with a computer in the living room, learning how to play backgammon online is fun and simple to master. One of the many advantages to playing online is that you don’t even need to remember the backgammon setup. The computer does it all for you, leaving you to get on with playing and winning.

As the backgammon game has evolved online, so too has its audience and the variations they can find to play. Backgammon fans come from all age groups and backgrounds. Some are fans of backgammon gambling and so prefer to play standard versions of the game at pay for money sites, and to compete against other players in online tournaments.

Others however, prefer to play the game purely for fun and so play several different variations of backgammon that have found their way online in the last few years. Among these are Turkish backgammon, or Tawula, and American and European versions of Acey-Deucey. Both of these games have been popular for decades but today offer online gaming fans greater challenges and a new spin on the standard backgammon game. These and other backgammon versions are growing more and more in popularity as a result and are especially fun if you’re already familiar with the game and want to test your skills under different rules. For example, instead of starting with 15 checkers on the board, you start with just two checkers playing Tawula. You have to roll the die to bring your other 13 checkers onto the board before you move your other checkers. In this way, backgammon is given a new twist to hold players’ attention.

If you’ve never played backgammon on the internet before and the idea of trying out board games online looks appealing, you can access a range of free sites to bring your gaming skills up to date. Free backgammon games are available all over the internet and can teach you the basics on how to play in no time. They are also useful training grounds for testing out new theories and strategies and for building up your confidence levels.

Some gaming sites even offer backgammon software which you can download for free and instal on your PC. Once you have this software, you can play it any time as much as you like to prepare you for live friendly games or for money games.

You can also make contact with thousands of fellow backgammon fans by visiting backgammon forum sites. These sites are a wonderful source of information and allow you to post questions, access the latest industry news, learn about new online sites and tournaments and share your backgammon experiences with like-minded people.

It is not hard to find games whose rules seem to take literally ages to learn, but backgammon is not one of these! The very fact that millions of children around the world have no difficulty when it comes to learning how to play backgammon illustrates that getting to know the backgammon setup and rules is really child’s play.

The backgammon set is easily recognizable to most of us from our childhood years. Most people know the basic items that are required in order to play the backgammon game. To begin with, we need a backgammon board which is a flat piece of wood, plastic or some other material, divided into twenty-four narrow triangular divisions known as “points”. Each of the points has an alternating color, traditionally black and white but other color schemes are equally acceptable. Down the center of the board there is a ledge that is know as the bar. Each player must have fifteen round checkers or counters. Again, like the board they are traditionally distinguished from each other by one set of checkers being colored black and the other set white but other color combinations are not forbidden. Finally, last but not least dice and a dice shaker must be included in the backgammon package. These items are all that the rules of the game demands to complete a backgammon setup and start playing.

For those playing backgammon online, all these equipment specifications can be dispensed with. All the player has to do is to log on to one of the online backgammon sites and download the game. Internet backgammon brings to your computer an attractive, 3-D backgammon set that matches in appearance the better quality types of sets you could buy in a store. Although they are popularly associated with backgammon gambling, the online backgammon sites do a thorough job in providing full information on how the game is played and in offering demonstration games that allow new players to quickly acquire the understanding of the rules and the playing skills they need to get the most out of their games.

For those who do not have Internet access, there are still many opportunities to learn the rules of the game by observing experienced players, joining a backgammon club or getting books out of the library. Assuming, as we can in the vast majority of cases, that the new player is familiar with the backgammon sets and all its components, the rules they must concentrate on are those concerning the object of the game and the legal ways in which this can be achieved. The key aim of the game, being the first players to remove all their checkers to their home area of the board and from here off the board, stands out in its simplicity. Most players also find the rules governing the moving of pieces quite straightforward. For example, movement proceeds according to the dice throw and the players who gets the highest score makes the first move.

If we could travel back in history through our time machine, to view the earliest origins of the backgammon board game some five thousand years ago, we might well find ourselves on the edge of a mud-brick village by the might river Euphrates. Under the shade of a palm tree, two men sit around a roughly carved primitive backgammon board. They discuss in animated terms the first ever backgammon instructions and perhaps express some difference of opinion about how the backgammon setup. If we stay a little longer to observe their play, we would probably recognize some of their backgammon strategy, and perhaps even acquire some valuable tips for improving our own play. Although the stone counters and the bone dice would be strikingly different from the counters and dice we commonly use, and their backgammon board’s divisions would certainly not show the same precision with which our contemporary boards are divided into their twenty four points, it would be amazing how much of the game would be recognizable.

Now what if we could reverse the direction of travel of our time machine, and take these ancient players away from their riverside game and bring them into the twenty first century. While they would certainly be astonished by modern technology, they might be even more astounded to see how their favorite pastime survived all the travails of some five millenniums. The backgammon boards on sale in the games retailers, would no doubt remind them of the game they once played, and even today’s common backgammon set up would have a familiar look to it.

The big question of course, is how would they react to the concept of free backgammon games, with a backgammon download available from a range of Internet backgammon sites? It seems reasonable to speculate that after the initial shock with the amazing technology that makes Internet backgammon possible, they would start to be impressed by how these downloads bring to the screen backgammon sets displayed in 3-D and a variety of colors, presenting an excellent reproduction of the manufactured backgammon sets. With a little further acquaintance with online backgammon, they would doubtless start to appreciate the pleasures of playing backgammon against a sophisticated computer, not to mention the enjoyment to be had from being able to play against opponents from all around the world. If, as seems likely, the first backgammon players were also backgammon gaming enthusiasts, they would be astounded by the amounts skilled players can win on the Internet.

True, it is possible that our imaginary time travelers could find themselves missing the simplicity of the backgammon games that they enjoyed back in their village, when contrasted with the speed and sound of Internet backgammon. Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine they would not derive satisfaction from the way their favorite village pastime has become a game enjoyed by millions of people, both online and offline. It would be hard to find a comparable ancient game to match backgammon’s long life and popularity.

Learning how to play backgammon successfully is probably easier to do today than in any other period of the backgammon game’s five thousand year history. We can imagine in the Ancient world the game was taught from father to son, or people learned the game by watching others play. There were no books of backgammon rules, not least because printing had not yet been invented, but also very few people could read. Closer to our own times, the game has been, and still is learned by many schoolchildren from their friends, and backgammon clubs have become quite popular.

Since the first backgammon regulations were published in the 1740’s there has been a gradual increase in the literature available about the game, and the last seventy years have seen many more guides to good play and tactics published. However, the introduction of the free backgammon game on the Web has dramatically increased the opportunities for both learning and playing the game far beyond those available previously. The Internet backgammon sites host free practice games, where you can take on a powerful backgammon computer at various skill levels. In addition they bring together a wide range of information covering everything from basic moves and layout, to advanced backgammon tactics, backgammon gambling tips and stories of some of the most famous backgammon champions.

With all these new opportunities to learn to play backgammon via the Internet, in which areas should a new player concentrate their study? First of all, it is important to point out that this board game is widely recognized as one of the easiest to learn and so you need not fear a long period of studies awaits you. Nevertheless, there are certain areas that repay a little time investment. For the novice player, becoming familiar with how to navigate their checkers around the twenty-four narrow triangular divisions (points) of the backgammon board must be a priority. The starting position for the checkers is soon memorized and how to move them in accordance to the dice throws is also quickly learned.

Once these basics of the game are mastered, the new learner is urged to take full advantage of all the practice opportunities online backgammon offers. The key areas the novice player needs to pay particular attention to are learning the opening moves, and the subjects of hitting and building primes.

In addition to the material available on the backgammon online sites, it is recommended to buy or borrow some of the many excellent backgammon books that give more comprehensive information on these principal areas of backgammon strategy. From these sources the reader learns, for example, that it is a good idea to try and occupy the second and third points in your home board area at the start of the play – this blocks in the two checkers that your opponent has positioned in your home board. In addition, the backgammon literature explains where best to hit the opponent’s blots – in the opponent’s home area where these hits are the most effective. There is much more information besides available online and offline for players keen on becoming backgammon winners.

The ease with which new players come to understand backgammon instructions and start to play a good game, may create the impression that backgammon is not a game that requires any great skill. Observers might come away with the idea that after learning the basic rules, success at the game is mostly dependent on the luck of the dice roll. However, more serious players who watch experienced players’ games and look into the growing backgammon literature, realize that backgammon strategy is a key element in a player’s success. It makes no difference whether or not the game is played with the traditional backgammon setup with one player facing the other across the board, or whether the backgammon set up has been made with backgammon software, players without any clear strategy stand little chance again opponents who think out their own moves as well as how best to quickly respond to another player’s moves.

The best players do not go into the game with the same strategy each time but adjust their play as the situation develops; in other words they have in their mind a number of playing approaches that they turn to according to the way the game is developing. Generally speaking, strategies devised for a traditional backgammon board game can easily be adapted and applied to playing free backgammon. The point is worth making that the backgammon download gives players more opportunities to develop gaming strategies than in face to face games since the backgammon game download sites offer computerized opponents adjustable to different skill levels. These provide an ideal means of trying out various playing approaches and seeing which is the most successful, all this from the comfort of your own home and at a time that suits your schedule.

Experts say much depends on the first moves, as the game can be won or lost in its opening moments and those with a good knowledge and experience of how to play backgammon have a distinct advantage. A range of strategies can be employed, as will be seen from a look at the useful backgammon information available on the Internet gaming sites, or by perusal of some of the many books providing detailed backgammon playing tips. To list all the strategies that players have successfully employed really requires a book format, but perhaps a few brief examples will suffice to wet the reader’s appetite for additional details.

One of the favorite winning strategies involves approaching the game as a race to get to the finishing line, which in a backgammon context means to be the first player to bring all their checkers into their home areas, and from here to remove them from the board. Seizing the fifth point soon after the game begins is also seen as a strong opening strategy since it provides protection against getting your checkers hit. Those with a good grasp of backgammon strategy also avoid investing too much time in trying to hit their opponent’s blots since this diverts them from the key objective of being the first player to bring all their checkers to their home area.

The expression “free backgammon” is heard a great deal these days and people way well wonder what do we mean by free backgammon? Backgammon has been with us for thousands of years and for much of its long history it is possible to say it has been a free game. The original backgammon set required nothing more elaborate than a flat piece of wood for the backgammon board, small stones for the counters and a dice made out of a discarded bone. Therefore, the ancient world backgammon players could easily get their backgammon set up without having to spend any money. With the commercialization of backgammon set production from the 1800’s onwards, more people were buying their backgammon sets from retail outlets but the option of making your own backgammon set remained and it is still available today for those who don’t wish to buy a set or maybe just prefer to make something themselves.

So, free backgammon might well be applied to the lack of expense involved in procuring the basic items required to conduct the game. It could also just as easily be applied to learning how to play backgammon. The traditional way of learning the backgammon rules has been through observing the games of experienced players. Certainly, today a person may choose to acquire their backgammon instructions from one of the many books that have been published describing the game in detail, but there is no need to pay for a book if they live near a public library. The game’s popularity insures that many backgammon books are usually in stock. Although the most enthusiastic players often opt to join backgammon clubs, membership is frequently available free of charge and the possibility of learning to play without having to pay anything remains available to anyone who is interested. .

The rapid development of Internet backgammon over the past fifteen years has certainly enhanced the possibilities of finding free backgammon. Today, when a person uses this expression they are more likely than not referring to online backgammon. For anyone who has a connection to the Internet, there is no longer any need to even make the minimal investment in buying a backgammon set from the shop but all they need to do is log onto a site and make a backgammon game download from the Internet. The sophisticated backgammon software now available does an excellent job in presenting an attractive 3-D version of the game, its boards, counters and dice. Also freely available are practice games against challenging backgammon computers or against players of various skill levels from around the world.

To participate in backgammon gambling usually involves some small fee paid to the site, and depending on the player’s skills at the game, they may find their winnings at the game exceed by many times the cost of participating and this can be seen as another aspect of free backgammon. If you’re interested in improving your skills then playing online is a great way to do it for free.

Understanding why the backgammon download has become so popular is a question that has been raised by observers of the great interest shown in the backgammon download, and in the free backgammon Internet sites that provide backgammon software to anyone with an Internet connection. Attempting to answer this question involves a two-pronged approach. First of all there is a need to understand why the traditional backgammon board game has been such a favorite of people from all around the world. Secondly, focus has to be placed on the attractions of the backgammon game download itself within the broader world of Internet gaming and gambling.

The pleasures of traditional backgammon need little introduction. After all, for generations how to play backgammon has been something that so many children have naturally learned in a similar way to how they learn to ride a bicycle. According to the research of academics investigating ancient cultures and pastimes, the Cradle of Civilization of the Near East was the area of the world where the game of backgammon originated. Utilizing a backgammon set up that would not be unfamiliar to players today, the Persian and Babylonian players soon discovered they has found a game that combined the elements of random chance and skill in exactly the right measures. Although we cannot be certain that backgammon instructions in Sanskrit or other ancient languages would correspond to those we know today, it is possible to conjecture that the ancient and modern games must have shared many common elements.

The strong emphasis on gambling in the ancient version of backgammon, as in many of today’s online versions, would have necessitated much thought given to developing a winning backgammon strategy. Although most people have a dislike of losing games even when no more than their pride is at stake, the introduction of the financial gain or loss factor invariably strengthens the motivation to think out your play. Thus, when online gaming made its first appearance some fifteen or so years ago, it was not a case of persuading people of the enjoyment in a new game, but rather the pleasures of playing a well known and beloved game in a new format.

Internet backgammon therefore found a ready audience for the game. The effort placed in developing the backgammon software and making available downloads free of charge already tempted many backgammon players with computer access to make a download. By offering the chance to match your skills against a computerized opponent, and also enter matches against backgammon players from around the world, it soon emerged that online backgammon had advantages that the traditional game lacked. In addition, the very fact that backgammon became associated with the Internet served to raise the profile of the game in the eyes of a younger generation of players. Rather than associating the game with elderly people playing in some pavement café, they began to see that backgammon was very much in tune with today’s technology and hence playing online backgammon started to become a fashionable youth leisure activity.

The game of backgammon has been played for an estimated five thousand years. From its early beginnings in the area of the world today occupied by Iran and Iraq, with the help of the Romans the game spread around the world. In the course of all the centuries that have gone by since the collapse of the Roman Empire, backgammon has extended its reach far beyond the bounds of the ancient civilized world. It would be hard to explain the way one of the earliest recorded games has not only continued to be played but seems to be continually increasing in popularity. The obvious explanation for its success is the shared experience of all generations that to play backgammon is such a pleasure.

The joys of playing the backgammon game are many since the game requires strategy in a uniquely captivating manner. The simplicity of the backgammon rules contributes the enjoyment of the game since it does not take long for even young players to acquire the skills needed to play. This helps explain how the backgammon board and backgammon set of checkers, dice and dice shaker, are now found in homes throughout the world. To play backgammon has become a social activity enjoyed by millions of people of all ages. Once children get hooked on the game at home, as their skills improve they often continue to join backgammon clubs. Sometimes their interests in the game and success at playing lead them to take part in tournaments.

Internet gaming developers have not been slow to recognize the joys of backgammon and online backgammon has taken its place as one of their leading offerings. Internet backgammon has certainly been propelled into a high profile by backgammon gambling. Contrary to what some people might think the gambling element in backgammon was not an invention of Internet gaming but it has been an integral feature of the game from the beginning. The game of Tabula (as the Roman version of backgammon was called) was entirely centered on gambling. Gambling for many backgammon players contributes to the excitement of the game. When money is at stake a player feels more motivated to play well whether they are convinced that they are about to win a substantial amount from their fellow players, or perhaps they fear losing their own stake!

In any event, the flourishing of online backgammon has been a wonderful gift for backgammon addicts worldwide. Prior to the introduction of backgammon to the Internet, opportunities to play the game were limited to the hours clubs met, or when a friend was interested in a game. Now keen players can connect to a backgammon site and can be guaranteed they can always find a game at the skill level they are looking for. If anyone is planning on making a survey on the extent that backgammon players enjoy their game, they need only investigate the numbers of people logging onto such sites and the times they log on and stay online, to get a good idea of its popularity.

Ask most people about leisure activity in the Ancient World and they will probably mention the sport of hunting, Greek athletics, or the cruel contests staged between Roman gladiators and wild animals. It will therefore come as a surprise to many that one of today’s most popular games – backgammon – actually has a history going back some five thousand years. Nobody knows for such who was the first person to invent the backgammon game but scholars believe it was devised or developed in the area today occupied by Iran and Iraq.

Since written descriptions of how to play backgammon had not yet been discovered, it is hard to know for sure that the backgammon rules of ancient Persia were similar to the ones we are familiar with today. The fact that the design of the backgammon board with the twenty four narrow divisions known as points, and the fifteen round counters, and the dice whose throws determine the counter movements, were all part of the ancient game, does suggest it had a great deal in common with the contemporary version.

Backgammon was popularized further by the Romans and became a favorite game of the Emperor Claudius, and the fate of the opponent foolish enough to let Claudius lose can only be imagined. The Roman version of backgammon, known as tabula (from the Latin for table) was played exclusively for money, what we would today term backgammon gambling. The thought of going to play backgammon for the fun alone does not seem to have been part of that cultural milieu.

The spread of the backgammon game around the world continued after the collapse of the Roman Empire, however it was not until the 1740’s that the backgammon rules were first published. The introduction of commercially produced backgammon sets at a price that most people could easily afford, also played a role in making the game available to people all around the world.

The developments in the first five thousand years of backgammon gave no inkling of that at the end of the twentieth century, backgammon stood on the verge of a major revolution. The introduction of online backgammon has initiated a major explosion in interest in the game, and brought it to a whole new, predominantly young audience. The ability to download Internet backgammon as free backgammon has meant there is no longer any need to even buy a backgammon set but you can have a high quality 3-D backgammon game setup on your own computer. Although the long-lasting appeal of backgammon gambling has given a major push to the popularity of the backgammon online games, the chance to play against a sophisticated backgammon computer and play against players from all around the world, are also key attractions. In addition the online game allows players to play at a time that suits them, and from the comfort of their own home. All the information required to learn the rules of the game and understand backgammon strategy is now available online – players have never had it easier.