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| Let us start with the land-based tournament. There are four major backgammon tournaments, but take care, you should be an expert player if you want to enter them If you are beginner, you should exercise more and learn the game and only enter a tournament when you feel confident on yourself! |
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| So let us start with the list of the four major backgammon tournaments. The first and most important backgammon tournament is the World Cup. The event takes place in Dallas once a year. The games are usually very long and difficult, and the players are usually professional. If someone wins the World Cup, ten he is catalogued as the best backgammon player, and of course, he will win a huge amount of money. The second most important tournament is the World Championship. It takes place in Monte Carlo one month before the first big event, the World Cup. Usually it takes place in July. Although the competition itself is held in America, most of the participants are from Europe. The games are not so long, nor as difficult as they are in the World Cup. |
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To begin with the presentation of the several variants, you should know that these usually have slightly different rules, and the initial setup of the checkerboard also differs from the standard Backgammon version. Let’s see a quick example or demonstration of this statement! One of the most popular versions, Acey-Deucey, starts with the checkers being off the board, while in Longgammon all the pieces are on the furthest point (on 24) in the beginning. Another version, Hypergammon uses only six checkers, and from this extreme to the other, there is Narde which doesn’t use any hitting. Does it seem too confusing? Hopefully after having read this article, you’ll get familiarized with each described variant. So you’ll be capable of trying them out, and this will help you get the variants even clearer. Be careful and you’ll know your way about the existing backgammon variants!
Obviously, one of the most popular of all the backgammon variants is Acey-Deucy. The game begins with none of the checkers being on the board. The way in which checkers move around and enter the board are somehow similar to the traditional version of the game. This means that the black checkers have to enter into the white ones’ home board and then have to go around the white’s and black’s outer board finally reaching the black’s home board. After this, the player who is with the black checkers may try to bear his or her pieces off. In turn, the other player will start and continue totally the opposite way. The rules don’t differ too much, but Acey-Deucy permits more freedom: any checkers might be moved, wherever you want, and at any time. Also, as the name suggests, in Acey-Deucy the best possible roll is the 1-2. This allows a player to move according to his/her ace deuce and then make any doubles he/she chooses. Moreover, with a 1-2 another roll comes automatically, and if that is a new 1-2, you’ll have the same extra options again.
Second, hyper backgammon has identical rules, but each player start with three checkers on their 22, 23, and 24 points. More than this, the Jacoby rule is applied together with the cube. The games begin with 7 points which can be increased while playing. Hyper-backgammon is said that had been solved, so there are normative moves for all the possible 32 million standings.
Nackgammon is very similar to backgammon as well, but the initial setup differs, as the starting points of the players are not the same. Also in traditional backgammon you finish at two different points with five checkers per each point, but in Nackgammon players only have four pieces there, and the remaining ones are put on the 23 point. The game’s inventor is Nick ‘Nack’ Ballard, hence is the name Nackgammon.
In Russian countries a special version of backgammon is played called Narde. Players have 15 checkers each, and they move their pieces in the same direction. No hitting exists, and rolling doubles do not have any special meaning. The bear off is pretty much the same as it is in backgammon. The most interesting difference is that Narde depends almost solely on luck.
An exceptional backgammon version is one that is diceless. The game is played in Uzbekistan for instance, and is quite enjoyable. Partly because of players move their checkers in the same direction, counter-clockwise, partly because no hitting is permitted, and the start-up also differs, the strategy differs a lot from the traditional backgammon. The game requires players to pay great attention to each other’s moves. Because the game is so interesting, many tournaments are organized for this type of backgammon, players calling their rolls because dices practically don’t exist.
Finally, a game called Chouette is practically a role-play backgammon variant played by three or more players. Special rules apply to this game, with the player rolling the highest becoming the so-called ‘box’, while one throwing the second highest will be the ‘captain’ and will represent the rest of the team. This happens each time a new game starts. The roles depend on who the winner was in the last game. It is like in the theatre, isn’t it?
There are many other variants of backgammon which are not played officially, but they are very popular and bear a good character among casual players. All of these backgammon types are challenging somehow and their tactics and strategies might help one to ameliorate their backgammon skills.
So it is not a miracle that there are so many existing backgammon variants in the different parts of the world. One should think only to the great history of backgammon and of its exciting and interesting features. None of its predecessors or its modern variants needed great popularization in order to become widespread. Everybody may find his or her favourite game that best fits his or her needs, as there are backgammon variants based on strategy and skill, but there exist games which depend solely on luck. Games also vary depending on the regions they are played, or on their time-limits. Starting positions, moves, the number of the checkers as well as the significance of the dice rolls might also differ a lot. These differences make the games even more interesting and enjoyable. So you can pick up whichever variant you find more exciting!
Understanding the basic rules of each game is essential, and only those who play a lot and implement strategies can master them. But feel free to add new strategic elements to the games you play! Thinking about the future, one has all the reasons to believe that even more backgammon types will appear on the gambling scene. Until that time you’re welcomed to study the existing versions, their rules and strategies, and you’re also advised to try them out as you’ll surely have fun! If you have any doubts concerning the games, don’t hesitate to check the backgammon reviews! One more thing is that the game has also been studied carefully by IT experts and by scientists, who have managed to invent software which can beat the best human players. All in all, backgammon is dynamic enough for making its many variants alive and popular. Enjoy your backgammon plays! |
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