junior year

As I discussed in the last post which was more theoretically focused, I don’t know anything about backgammon.  But after searching for a bit of information on the net, I’ve learned that I REALLY don’t know anything about backgammon and I decided to educate myself, just a tiny bit.  Maybe you don’t know anything about it either, so you can learn a little bit from my research.  Starting at the beginning, two people play backgammon at the same time, and the game operates dependent on the rolling of dice.  OK, nothing too new there.  What is unusual, though, and what sets backgammon apart from a variety of other board games and entertainments, is that backgammon actually comes from  a rather ancient background—it’s loosely based  on an ancient Egyptian game called “Senet” and another game called the “Royal Game of Ur.”  I never would have known this if not for the  help of Wikipedia, the ultimate knowledge source.  What’s the point of backgammon?  Your goal is to get all your pieces past those of your opponent and then get them taken off the board.  What’s fascinating to me, though, is that what was once an intimately physical game involving the rolling of physical device has moved online in a huge fashion.  Playing online backgammon has become a pastime all over the world, which makes a lot of sense, because it’s totally free (or at least has the potential to be supported by an advertising type of business model).  Thus, it costs nothing to learn because you don’t even need to buy a board, let alone connect with players in your local area—if you want,  you can take on someone from Egypt.  Be careful though, because their influence over the origins of the game may transfer into present skill!