About The Game of Backgammon

Playing Backgammon Online – For Fun or Profit – by Stephen Todd

The Internet has many websites to help you pass the time away and ease boredom. Some of these online distractions come in the form of Internet games that you can pay to play or as a free form of entertainment. Some of the available outlets allow you to play chess, checkers, solitaire, as well as playing backgammon online.

When you are interested in playing backgammon online, you can choose to either play against a human competitor or if you don’t feel like dealing with a real person, the computer is also equipped to play backgammon online.

There are plenty of websites to go to when you are in the mood for a game of backgammon, where you can even choose the option to play for cash prizes or achieve rankings for the best game players.

Gammon Village.com is a website that promises a good game of online backgammon. The site claims that there will be no Java or browser issues when using this website. The connections to play backgammon at this site are fast and stable, featuring entertaining and impressive graphics. When there is an issue regarding play, 24-hour customer support is available live and online. When downloading the software, you should know that it accommodates a variety of different languages, including Portuguese, Danish, and Japanese.

When you are looking to play backgammon online against a wide-range of playing levels, the realistic 3D Back-gammon.com website offers a large network of players. These players hail from all across the world, and games are for fun, as well as for monetary prizes. The software takes less than 5 minutes to download, and then you can engage in exciting single, session, and multiplayer tournament games. At the end of every game, each player receives a ranking – and those interested should keep in mind that all of the games are timed. It is also free to enjoy this backgammon experience, even featuring the option of joining a league.

If you are looking for a Java applet that allows you to play backgammon online, you should look into Motif, – played using Netscape, or Internet Explorer web browsers. With Motif, you are strictly playing against the computer. Another website that requires the use of a Java-enabled browser is Yahoo Games, which allows visitors to play online backgammon against computer opponents, as well as against a variety of gaming members. It is free to play using Yahoo, but more advanced options, such as joining a league requires a subscription to premium services.

The list of Internet sites to choose from when you wish to play backgammon online is endless. A few others to consider include: Vinco Online Game (VOG); Games Grid; GameSite 2000, as well as HC-Gammon, which allows you to play against a computer opponent. When seeking out At the Crosswords, you will encounter a Shockwave variety of backgammon that allows visitors to play against the computer.



About the Author:
For more information on backgammon and online gaming please visit our web site: www.net-planet.org

Online Backgammon Ranks Among the Most Popular Internet Games – by Gene Marshall

The chances of an ancient board game becoming one of the all time favorite hi-tech Internet games should in theory have been very remote, yet online backgammon has managed to become one of the most popular of Internet games. How could this have happened? To understand the success of internet backgammon we need to appreciate the nature of the game and the interests of today’s game players who have become such devoted backgammon online patrons.

The backgammon game is a game of skill and strategy, yet at the same time it is very easy to learn, as the many children who take up backgammon clearly indicate. The key objective of the contest, to be the first player in a position to “bear off” (or remove) from the board all their checkers is one that is instantly understood. The backgammon rules are easily learned, with even the youngest players quickly understanding how to move their checkers in response to the dice throws. The basics of backgammon strategy such as hitting the opponent’s blots (single checkers) and how to build primes (blockade opposing pieces) are also quickly mastered. When taken together with the high profile backgammon has enjoyed for so many years, we can see how it made an ideal candidate for translation into an online game.

The fun of playing this familiar game with fellow backgammon enthusiasts from around the world is without doubt one of the key factors behind the success of online backgammon, but there are many others. The convenience element is another major advantage. People value a game that they can play from the comfort of their own home or office, and that they can access at a time that fits in with their schedule. The free backgammon download brings a high-resolution 3-D backgammon game straight to your personal computer with no need to go out and buy the software. Even if you do not know how to play backgammon, the wealth of information available on these online sites, and great opportunities for free practice games against backgammon computers, soon put you in the picture.

The attractions of the winning you can make through backgammon gambling are without doubt another major factor in encouraging people to play backgammon online. Interest is aroused by the large number of backgammon tournaments the online sites host. These contests are often divided into different divisions with players allocated according to their skill and experience. The elimination system is common with players eliminated in each round until the remaining two struggle it out between them to win the championship and a substantial cash prize. Even the players eliminated have contests arranged for them and these can also yield significant prize money. The excitement as a tournament draws to a close, and the temptation of the high winnings, contribute a great deal to the game’s following. It is not hard to see how to play backgammon via the Internet has become such a favorite with people of all nationalities and age groups.



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The Backgammon Game Crosses All International Boundaries – an article by Gene Marshall

The backgammon game has enjoyed an international following for thousands of years. Children all over the world learn how to play backgammon at an early age, and games of backgammon can be found in schools, clubs and cafes across the globe. We may well wonder how a game that originated an estimated five thousand years ago has become such a world conqueror? Certainly the straightforward nature of the game’s objective – to be the first player in a position to remove (bear off) all their checkers from the board, and the easy to understand nature of the other backgammon rules, have been factors in its appeal since they ensure that players can learn to play backgammon faster than board games. Yet a game that is boring, even if it is easy to learn, is not going to become so popular. Therefore, the excitement backgammon generates and the demands for quick thinking it makes on participants are without doubt much more important factors in explaining its spread.

People brought up in the age of the internet and computers might come to the conclusion that Internet backgammon has been the prime factor in making the game into an international favorite. The fact is that backgammon was being taken from country to country thousand of years before backgammon online was ever dreamed about. The Romans played a significant role in carrying the game from the areas of Iran and Iraq where it originated to the many other lands that formed part of the Roman Empire. It is also interesting to note that backgammon gambling was also a very important feature of the game in this early stage of its history. The Roman version of backgammon was called “Tabula” and it was only played for money, with a number of famous Romans, including Emperor Claudius ranking among the enthusiastic players. It was not exactly the same as the game commonly played today. For example, Roman players needed to enter all their checkers to the board from square 1 and they had to be moved in an anti-clockwise direction. In addition, they threw three, instead of the two dice commonly used today, and up to three checkers could be moved according to the results of this throw.

As backgammon traveled from country to country, additional local variations of the game developed. For instance, Tavla, the Turkish version of backgammon shares much in common with the most commonly played backgammon game, but there is no doubling cube nor cup for throwing the dice – the dice are flicked against the wooden side of the Tavla board.

The unique contribution of online backgammon with its free backgammon software downloads has been to give access to broaden access to the game beyond what was possible in pre-Internet days. Although international backgammon competitions have been in existence for a number of years, the regularity and easy access to the tournaments offered online is a new development. Everyone who has a connection to the Internet can now download backgammon software and take part in international competitions.




The Author:

Internet backgammon professional Gene Marshall writes for several top backgammon web sites. The author contributes articles about online backgammon and recommended backgammon playing strategies. More works by Gene Marshall related to backgammon can be obtained on the net.

Choosing to Play Backgammon Online or Offline – an article by Gene Marshall

Today’s backgammon enthusiasts are presented with a wide variety of opportunities to play backgammon in a way that previous generations could never even have envisaged in their wildest dreams. For the thousands of years people have been playing backgammon, games have been commonly played in family homes, or in popular meeting places. Since most of the world’s population lived in the countryside or small villages, the likelihood was that the same players would compete against each other time after time. For players who were particularly skilled at the game, the lack of players of similar skills levels can only have served to detract from their interest in the game.

The move from the countryside to the cities, and the creation of backgammon clubs widened players’ horizons. Whether attracted by the prospects of winning at backgammon gambling or simply interested in the playing for enjoyment alone, in schools, work places and places of entertainment, people starting coming together much more to learn how to play backgammon and make new friends. This is still very much the case today. For example, it would be interesting to see what percentage of successful backgammon players learn the backgammon game at school.

Although the game has had its ups and downs in popularity in the course of its history, for instance, the introduction of the doubling cube in 1920’s America added to the appeal of backgammon as a casino game, the development of backgammon software over the last fifteen years has propelled backgammon into a new place of prominence on the international gaming scene. It seems that not only have traditional backgammon players been attracted to online backgammon but also a new generation of players are being drawn to the game. Although these players are not exclusively in the under thirty-age group, it seems a fair guess that backgammon online attracts primarily younger players. In part this can be accounted for by their greater familiarity with Internet technology, but there is also a youth culture of which the Internet has become an integral part.

Besides the factor of age, there are a number of other considerations at play in determining whether a person prefers to play with a traditional backgammon set or play with a virtual set online. For some players, there can be no substitute for a face-to-face game. Exchanging typed messages with the other players can never compete with genuine social contact. These players may well belong to a backgammon club they have been patronizing for years and feel content to keep their game at this level.

Many other players are drawn by the prospect of competing with players from around the world brought together by Internet gaming. They also enjoy the chance of testing out their skills against a backgammon computer. If they are primarily interested in gaming opportunities, the ability to play backgammon on the Internet is valued for the substantial prizes they think they have a chance of winning. Certainly the convenience factor must not be underrated, with the Internet offering games at a time and location that players find convenient.




The Author:

Supplementary readings and works that were written by Gene Marshall about online backgammon can be accessed on the internet. Online backgammon specialist Gene Marshall is commissioned by many renowned backgammon magazines. The writer focuses on writings about where to play backgammon and the backgammon game.

Backgammon Software Play and analysis