Backgammon: Now and Then
The fact that backgammon is a very old gambling game and most of its variants were invented during old times does not stop people from creating new variants of the game. The good thing about backgammon is that it is an evolving gambling game. It continues to grow even if it is already established.
Here are some of the ancient variants of the gambling game backgammon:
Chasing the Girls - this variant originated in Iceland. Yes, there is backgammon in Iceland, in case you were wondering. If you are a fan of Magni, a contestant in Rockstar Supernova, it would be interesting for you to know that Iceland does not only contribute good rock singers, but it also has contributed to the gambling world. And, one of its many contributions is this backgammon variant.
Doublets - talking about Iceland's contributions to the gambling world, here is another one. Although it is a very old variant, early twentieth century gambling players still got to enjoy this. Proof that Iceland's contributions to the gambling world are indeed enduring.
Irish - this variant is believed to be the direct precursor to the common backgammon. Ireland is known for a lot of things, including leprechauns, but only a few people know that Ireland also has contributed to the gambling world in form of this backgammon variant. Since its inception, Irish had been enjoyed by gambling players from different parts of Europe.
Jacquet - this is another backgammon variant that was so popular in Europe back then.
Tabula - in this old backgammon variant, the gambling players roll three dice, not just two.
Tourne - case - during the 1600's, tourney-case was very famous among French gambling players. In this variant, each of the gambling players will use only three markers.
Here are newer backgammon variants:
Hyper backgammon - gambling players in this variant will only get three markers each, much like in the tourney-case variant. Because of the limited number of markers, the game is fast paced, thus the term hyper.
Long gammon - this variant resembles the typical backgammon, only that the markers are placed on the enemy's point number one. This is slow paced since the markers will have to endure a long trip to make it to the home board.
Misere - this variant is peculiar since the goal here is the opposite of the goal in typical backgammon. Instead of wanting to bear off points first, here, you should be the last one to do that to win the game.
