Version Française The Origin of Backgammon English Version

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Modern Backgammon

Time & Place

1928 until today
USA

References

1928 - Modern Backgammon - Nicholas, Grosvenor
1930 - A Primer on Modern Backgammon - Bond, Ralph A.
1970 - The Backgammon Book - Jacoby, Oswald and Crawford, John R.

Equipment

    Backgammon board
    2 x 15 Pawns (men)
    2 x 2 Dice
    1 Doubling Cube

Rules

Initial Position Identical
Start of the Game Each player throws 1 die and the best starts.
Moves Identical
Bearing Off Yes
Bet Doubling Cube
Doublets Played 4 times
Gammon Yes
Backgammon Yes
Special Rules Automatic Doubles: only in money game, if identical numbers are thrown on the first roll, the stakes are doubled.

    Several additional rules have appeared since 1970:

  • Jacoby rule: only in money game, Gammons and backgammons count only as a single game if neither player has offered a double during the course of the game,

  • Beaver and Raccoon: only in money game, an immediate redouble,

  • Crawford rule: only in match play, when the leading player comes within one point of winning the match, the following game is played without a doubling cube,

  • Holland Rule (rarely used today): only in match play, in post-Crawford games the trailer can only double after both sides have played two rolls.
Variants Chouette: one player competes against a team of all the other participants, and positions rotate after each game.