Choosing a Backgammon Table

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The backgammon table is a specially designed gaming table with its flat surface forming a regular backgammon board, with its twenty-four alternately colored narrow triangular divisions and the central bar. The backgammon table is a relatively modern addition to the backgammon-playing environment. Observing backgammon games played in Turkey and Iran, close to the area where the game was devised thousands of years ago, it can be seen that players position the board between their knees and this seems likely to be the original way the game was played.

Certainly for most of today’s backgammon players in western countries the backgammon table is a great convenience. Players are much more comfortable sitting around a backgammon table than they would be playing the game with the board balanced on their knees.

On the most basic level, any flat-surfaced table of a comfortable height can be converted into a backgammon table by placing a backgammon board on top of it, but it is preferable to have one of the purpose-made tables with the board inlaid into its surface. Such tables can be purchased from many games dealers, and they are also freely available on the Internet. How much the special backgammon table is going to cost depends on the quality of the wood, and the workmanship. Some tables have slide-off tops that reveal a backgammon board beneath the regular table surface. It is also possible to get a game board that can be turned round to present a backgammon game on one surface, and a chess and checkers board on the other surface.