Backgammon set adapts to changing technology

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Backgammon is one of the all time favorite board games and its five thousand years of history is something that few other games can complete with. From its development in the lands of the Near East, the Iran and Iraq of our own times, the backgammon game made its way across the Roman Empire. In the course of time it has reached every corner of the world. The backgammon board with its twenty four triangular-shaped, alternately colored divisions, and the backgammon set of fifteen checkers for each player, dice, and a dice shaker are instantly recognizable to a great proportion of the world?s inhabitants. It might be thought that with the passage of all these years and the appearance of so many different times of board and other games, backgammon would go out of fashion, but that has not been the case. The game has managed to continue to increase its following and is probably more popular today than at any time in its long history.

Without doubt backgammon?s unique combination of a game of skill and strategy with a game whose movement?s are controlled by the outcomes of the dice throw, has been a key factor in accounting for its enduring popularity. Yet, another contributing factor has been the way the backgammon set adapts to changing technologies.

In the early years of the game, backgammon sets were made from whatever materials were available locally. For example, a flat piece of wood could have the divisions of the board carved into it, and a set of smooth stones could serve as the checkers, while the dice might be made out of a piece of bone. As the range of materials in regular use expanded, pottery checkers and dice replaced their humble predecessors. With the increasing commercialism in the 1800?s backgammon sets produced for retailers began to replace the home-produced sets previously in use. In the twentieth century the introduction of plastics came as a great boon for the producers of backgammon sets and helped insure that cheap sets have become available to all who want to play backgammon.

In many respects the greatest development in the technology of the backgammon set has occurred only in the last fifteen years with the introduction of Internet backgammon. Spurred on by the success of backgammon gambling, Internet backgammon has introduced the game to a much wider audience by transferring it to a media that has turned out to be particularly suited for hosting the game. The developers of the backgammon online sites have succeed in creating attractive 3-D virtual versions of backgammon sets that behave exactly like their traditional wooden counterparts. The backgammon sites also boast sophisticated computers that allow players to test their skills at a level to suit their proficiency at the game, and they provide a clear explanation of backgammon rules for those who lack this information or merely require a reminder. Online backgammon has clearly proven the endurance of the backgammon set as an ancient leisure artifact capable of successfully adapting to the twenty-first century leisure market.