History of Backgammon

Series Summary

A tabletop game generally refers to any game where the elements of play are confined to a small area and which require little physical exertion. Most of these games are played at a table around which the players are seated, and on which the game's elements are located. A variety of major game types generally fall under the heading of tabletop games. Many games falling into this category, particularly party games, are more free-form in their play and can involve physical activity such as mime. However, the basic premise remains that the game does not require a large area in which to play it, significant amounts of strength or stamina, or specialized equipment. In this free video series, a board and card game enthusiast provides instructions for playing a variety of easy and fun tabletop games, including Uno, Yahtzee and backgammon. Learn how to play Hangman, Simon Says, checkers and even quarters! With these tips, a number of fun family games and other tabletop games will be explained, and no one will need an idea for passing the time.

Video Transcript

"Do you love backgammon? Hi, my name is Dean Hale and I'm going to tell you a little bit about the history of backgammon today. Backgammon has been entertaining people for centuries, but did you know that backgammon is actually five thousand years old and was originally created in Mesopotamia, that's Iraq today, and has been played over the centuries? For a good period of time it was actually only, they were only allowed to played by the royals, the kings, the queens, the pharaohs and the ruling monarchs. It kept on catching on and people just kept on wanting to play, so eventually it became widespread. They tried to actually ban the game. One of the churches did, saying that it was actually a game that was brought forth by the devil, so they burned boards and they tried to keep people from playing backgammon. Backgammon is actually a pretty easy game to play without a board, so they didn't have a lot of success in keeping people from playing it and eventually it caught on. Back when it was first invented in Mesopotamia, it was actually known as We Battle. When the Greece, the Greeks took the game, they actually turned the game into back gammon and then eventually the British turned it into backgammon which is the game today. Very widely popular game that is played all over the world and is gaining a lot of interest on the internet. And I guess we all know nowadays if a game is on the internet, it's really hit the big stage. Backgammon as a game has been here for five thousand years and I expect we'll see another five thousand. My name is Dean Hale and that's a little history of backgammon."