Backgammon Facts Trivia at gamerisms
Backgammon Facts Trivia: The World’s Oldest Board Game
- The popular game originated in Persia more than five thousand
- Burzoe is credited with the invention of backgammon back in the
6th century and was officially named such in the Persian Book of Kings written in the 11th
- The game was created in response to the game of chess that was
introduced to the Persians by Indians.
- Backgammon facts trivia reports that the number of checkers and
bases is not arbitrary for the game. Moreover, the thirty checkers in a
backgammon game represent the number of days in a month of the Persian
calendar and the twenty-four bases symbolized the twenty-four hours in
- The backgammon board represents planet earth while the checkers
symbolize humans moving along the planet according to their fate.
- The Greek philosopher Plato mentioned the game in his writings
and said that backgammon represents the movement of the earth and
planets while chess represents war.
- Another of the backgammon facts trivia is that in France in the
13th century, church based laws prohibited this and other board games.
This also occurred in 16th century England. This was because table
games were often associated with gambling which, at that time, was
considered a sin against God.
- Backgammon arrived in the United States in the 1930s where New
York’s Wheaton Vaughan developed the current set of backgammon rules.
The game’s popularity soared in the Big Apple and soon spread
throughout the country.
- Backgammon seems to be popular with men known for philandering,
as one of the little known backgammon facts trivia is that Hugh Hefner,
the founder of Playboy magazine loves playing the game, and held
backgammon parties in the Playboy mansion.
- In addition to the game’s fan Mr. Hefner, Tim Holland, known for
his adulterous lifestyle and being divorced four times, won several of
the world’s major backgammon championship tournaments in the 60’s and
70’s and wrote three well respected books about the game.
- The first major international Backgammon tournament was held in
the United States in March of 1964 and was attended by celebrities,
royalty and an overload of press.
- The World Series of Backgammon has a top prize pool of one
million dollars and was first held in Las Vegas in 1967. The tournament
is still held today and changes venues around the world.
- While you can still play the game on the original physical board,
today you can also play backgammon online, and in casinos in cities
such as Las Vegas, Macau, and Monte Carlo.
Now that you are prepped on the obscure history of backgammon, go out
there and impress someone with your knowledge.
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