Narde Backgammon Variation
Narde, or the Russian Version of Backgammon
Narde, or the Russian Version of Backgammon, is the game you might be invited to join in should you have reason to visit Russia, or any of the other countries that were formerly part of the Soviet block. Although today the game is usually associated with Russia and Khazakhstan, historical research has traced its origins further south to Persia, or today’s Iran where varieties of the game are still played. Apparently “Narde” is the Persian for the wooden board on which the game is played. Possibly the game had some religious relevance to the Persians since they associated the twenty four points on the board with the hours in a day, and each checker signified a day of the month. Evidence suggests that the game arrived in the area we know today as Russia some one thousand two hundred years ago.
For those familiar with the backgammon game played around the world today, the appearance of the game of Narde is going to look very familiar. First of all, you will see a flat board divided into twenty-four narrow, triangular-shaped divisions with an alternating color scheme. The division of the board into four quadrants, each containing six triangular divisions, corresponds to the division into points and quadrants in the backgammon game played outside Russia. The similarities continue with the further division of the board into home and outer divisions for each one of the two players. In addition, each player has fifteen counters, or stones as the case may be, and they are moved according to the results the throw of a die. The object of the game, bringing your counters into your home board and bearing them off, is also identical to the better know backgammon.
While Narde, or the Russian Version of Backgammon has so much in common with the backgammon that is played in many other areas of the world, it does not follow identical rules. Perhaps the chief difference is that hitting the opponent’s blots is not done in Narde. Players can only move counters to points that are unoccupied.
Another significant difference is that a limit is imposed on the construction of primes. A player is not allowed to block all their opponent’s checkers behind a prime consisting of six of their own checkers. One of the opposing checkers must be left outside the prime.
Narde also has a distinctive starting position with each player positioning their checkers at diagonally opposite corners of the board at the point that is furthermost to the right. The direction in which counters are moved would also come as a surprise to players of the backgammon version better known to English speaking players. The counters in Narde are moved round the board in an anti-clockwise direction by both of the players.
Why Narde has remained a highly localized game and not attained the international standing of competition backgammon is probably connected with the political and geographical isolation of the lands where it was played for much of modern history.
