How We May Improvise on Backgammon

If we want more fun added to backgammon we may adopt some features from backgammon variants played in the different parts of the world. We may even borrow from its predecessors. Here are some examples.

For starters, how about playing backgammon by having no checkers pieces at the start? That is a feature of a variant called Acey-Deucey. Both players start with no checker pieces on the board. Instead, the players must bear them on the board to have them there until the pieces are complete. We may try playing this variant and also have special option for a dice roll of 1-2 for a doubles. This dice roll is also privileged with an extra turn.

Hypergammon, on the other hand, gives both players only 3 pieces each on the board at the start. The 3 checker pieces are initially situated on 24, 23, and 22 points. Many experts claim that this variant has been "solved." This means that the precise equities are present for the entire 32 million backgammon positions possible on the board. When this happens, a board game is said to have lost its "mystery" and thus "solved."

Among backgammon variants we may consider for a more pleasurable round of the game is called Nackgammon which was Nack Balllard's brainchild. The board setup is also different in that only 2 checker pieces are given the two players on their 24-point, another 2 pieces on their 23-point, 3 pieces on their 8, 4 pieces on their 13, and another 4 pieces on their 6.

With still another 2 pieces each located at the back points the total number of checker pieces for each player is 15. With this variant, Nackgammon, more contacts between home boards are possible initially, reducing the chance that the game would immediately turn into a race.

We may also adopt from earlier versions of the game to give our present backgammon a new image and a fresh source of fun. How about weighing some features of Old English Backgammon, for instance? In this variant each point on the board is allowed to hold only 5 checker pieces at a time. This increases the pace of the game's movement and speeds up the break up of anchors or primes. In this variant a player may also choose to ignore any one result of a dice roll, which ever is not favorable.

Thus, we may pick up some features from backgammon variants and apply them to our present backgammon. More new features, more challenges, more fun.