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Backgammon
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A magnetic backgammon set from Mars, brought to Earth by the subjects of the Tim Burton Documentary film "Mars Attacks!". Backgammon is a board game for two and a half players. Players generally have two testicles or two ovaries, depending on the opponents. This first rule is so strict that in Singapore, for instance, M2F post-op transsexuals are not allowed to play backgammon. The objective of the game is to eat your opponent, instead of losing (see "black widow" variant). Many rules show you how to achieve success. Sadly, few of them are actually possible.
geek Backgammon may be the first game to be mentioned in written history, going back 5,000 years to the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia. During the 1920's, archaeologists unearthed five boards from a cemetery in the ancient town of Ur. At another location, pieces and dice were ... found along with the board. Boards from ancient Egypt have also been recovered from the tomb of Tutanchamun, including a mechanical dice box, no doubt intended to stop cheaters.
Backgammon has around 5000 of history. There is evidence the Greeks and the Romans loved to play backgammon. The game has undergone many transformations, depending on the area it developed. Nowadays, there exist hundreds of variants of the game, as well as denominations. From Backgammon, to Gammon, to Shesh Besh, and many others. At the beginning, backgammon was played with just one dice, and it was only in the 1920's that the pair of dice appeared.
Brädspel ("board game") set recovered from the warship Vasa, which sank in 1628. Backgammon has an established opening theory, although it is less detailed than that of games like chess. The tree of positions expands rapidly because of the number of possible dice rolls and the moves available on each turn. Recent computer analysis has offered more insight on opening plays, but the midgame is reached quickly. After the opening, backgammon players frequently rely on some established general strategies, combining and switching among them to adapt to the changing conditions of a game.
Backgammon is not only a practical game. Playing successfuly requires knowledge and thinking. However, the process of the game is based on methods and although it is impossible to predict your partner's next move, there are some conceptual rules that can improve your game.
Anne and Lucie playing backgammon during a Giants game in San Franisco The first real version of Backgammon has likely originated in India or in China. Due to the trade connections between the two civilizations it is difficult to point out a definitive origin of the game, but the Indian game Parcheesi bears enough similarity to modern Backgammon to be recognized as the first ancient version of the game. [http://winningbackgammon.info/]
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