GAMMONchain linksLINKS
By Mel Leifer
GENERAL INFORMATION__________

Backgammon Galore!
The setup and rules of the game, glossary, FAQ, annotated matches, variants, etiquette, and backgammon humor. The site contains more then 400 articles.

GammonVillage
The Web's largest and most interactive backgammon portal. Read the online magazine articles and shop for equipment and software. Follow on Facebook.

GammonLife
Free Web site by Michael Strato has tournament results, pictorials, interviews, and articles to improve your game.

Backgammon from Wikipedia
Article from the free Web encyclopedia that anyone can edit, with translations in more than sixty languages. There is also a Wiktionary glossary of backgammon terms. See the Tables (board game) article for backgammon variants played throughout the world. There are other backgammon portal sites in Bulgarian, Catalan, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. For help with translations try Babel Fish or Google.

Backgammon Portal
Art Grater's Web link directory. There are similar pages in Dutch, German, and Hungarian with lists of backgammon links. Use the eXtreme backgammon-only search engine to find even more links.

news:rec.games.backgammon
The Usenet newsgroup for unmoderated discussion of all facets of the game. Postings are accessible on the Web at Google Groups and GamesKB. Some of the better contributions are saved at the Backgammon Galore! Forum Archive. There is a large document intended to answer Frequently Asked Questions. When was the last time it was updated? Answer: March 1996.

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CLUBS & TOURNAMENTS_________

Mark Your Calendar
Carol Joy Cole's lively listing of upcoming backgammon tournaments around the world. Carol also runs the Michigan Summer Championships. Check International Tournament Results for the lists of winners from major events worldwide. Results from European tournaments may often be found at GammonManager.com. For major US tourneys, check GamerCafe for final and in-progress results.

Internet Backgammon Database
Search the profiles of players who compete in live tournaments around the world. Roland Herrera has created a portrait gallery of prominent international tournament players. Also check the Backgammon World Wide social network. See Max's Album for 100 backgammon photos from the 1970's and '80's. Some other sites with pictures from tournaments years ago are BackGam.com, Bg-Info, and GammonLife.

GIANTS of Backgammon
The world's best as voted by tournament directors and championship-level players. Profiles of the top 32 players for 2009 are found at Masters of Backgammon. There is a megalist page with a compilation of all the results from the top 32 voting since 1993. Some Giants past and present who have their own Web sites include Nack Ballard, Jake Jacobs, Mochy, Karsten Nielsen, Jacob Rice, and Elliot Winslow. There is a six part YouTube documentary about Matvey "Falafel" Natanzon.

World Championship Tournament
Held every year since 1976 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. See the historical list of World Champions from 1967 to the present. The tournament has a group page on Facebook. For pictures and results from 2010 see Mike Main's Monte Carlo 2010.

World Backgammon Tour
A series of tournaments unifying backgammon tournaments in six countries covering three continents with a Grand Finale competition for the 16 qualified players. Also see the First International Backgammon Championship.

World Series of Backgammon
Sponsors tournaments in Europe. Watch some of the top recorded matches on WSOB TV. The World Backgammon Ratings are based on player results in major live tournaments. There are also online tournaments at PlayWSOB.com. Follow WSOB on Facebook and Twitter.

World Backgammon Association
Organization founded by Chiva K. Tafazzoli dedicated to promoting the game internationally which supports the European Backgammon Tour and the U.S. Open Tournament. Follow WBA on Facebook new.

Worldwide Backgammon Federation
Organizers of the annual European Championship Tournament. The WBF also sanctions championships directed by Marco Fornasir in Austria, Italy, and Slovenia.

US Backgammon Federation
Not-for-profit organization founded in 2010 "devoted to advancing the awareness, participation, education and enjoyment of the skill-based game of backgammon. It seeks growth and opportunities for players at all levels." Follow the USBGF on Facebook and Twitter.

American Backgammon Tour
Annual backgammon tournament points race with twenty major live events throughout the USA. Follow ABT on Facebook and YouTube.

U.S. Tournament Rules and Procedures
Official for events on the American Backgammon Tour.

U.S. Clock Rules and Procedures
The official set of rules which require the use of clocks with the Bronstein time-delay feature. Also see the suggestions on clock ethics. Some popular brand digital timers are Chronos, DGT, Duel Timer, and Saitek. For the Excalibur GTII timer there is a Web page tutorial on proper settings for a backgammon match. For iPhone or iPod Touch there are A1 Game Clock, GameClock Tournament, and Game Time apps to download. Free to download is AGClock for Windows which also includes a scoreboard.

USA Backgammon Clubs
An up-to-date listing with links to Web sites for active clubs in the United States. A Web-based clubs database is at BackGames.org. The clubs of the United States Backgammon League have free offline tournaments. If there is no club near you, you could start your own. Find other players in your area at a Backgammon Meetup.

Nevada Backgammon Association
Organizers of the largest tournaments in the USA, since 1991. There are smaller weekly tournaments at the Las Vegas Backgammon Club.

Backgammon by the Bay
Annotated games, problem sets, songs playlist and news about the club in the San Francisco, California area. Newcomers should take the virtual tour of a tournament. In the Los Angeles area, Gammon Associates runs tournaments twice a week.

Beltway Backgammon Club
Holds weekend afternoon tournaments once or twice a month in McLean, VA, close to the Washington, DC Beltway. The nearby Northern Virginia Backgammon Club has weekly tournaments. In Maryland, tournaments are held weekly at the Baltimore Backgammon Club and monthly at MDBackgammon.

Backgammon in Venezuela
Web site for the club in Caracas. There are also Web pages for clubs in Panama and Peru. There are Facebook pages for Backgammon Peru new and Backgammon Costa Rica new.

European Series of Backgammon
ESOB sponsors both online and offline tournaments.

Backgammon Clubs in Europe
A list compiled by European Backgammon News. Some European nations with backgammon association Web sites are Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovine, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. There are also Web sites for Ukraine and the Russian Backgammon Federation. A Web-based clubs database is at BackGames.org. If there is no club near you, you could start your own. Find other players in your area at a Backgammon Meetup.

British Isles Backgammon Association
The biggest backgammon body in the United Kingdom with a worldwide membership. Follow BIBA on Facebook and Twitter. BIBA maintains a club locator page for England, Ireland, and Scotland. The BIBA Tournament Rules and Procedures are here. Also see the Backgammon Federation of Central England. Backgammon in London tournaments are organized by Mike Main. There is a backgammon competition as part of the annual Mind Sports Olympiad held in London.

Danish Backgammon Federation
Organizers of the Nordic Open tournament. Watch videos of the action at IBackgammon Danmark. Other Scandinavian national groups are the Finnish Backgammon Association, Norwegian Backgammon Federation, and Swedish Backgammon Federation.

Japanese Backgammon League
Web site with lots of general backgammon information, mostly in Japanese. The JBL Event Schedule is translated in English. The annual Japan Open is the biggest tournament in Asia. There are also clubs in Hong Kong and the Philippines new. Also check Backgammon Australia. A list of clubs throughout Australia and New Zealand is maintained by the Mill Hill club in Sydney.

Tournament Backgammon on TV
Events of the World Series of Backgammon are broadcast on television in Europe and available as videos on the Vimeo WSOB Channel and via Internet live streaming video at Ustream.tv. Mind Engagement Media specializes in filming backgammon events for television or the Internet. The Backgammon Sportal broadband TV centre features Dod Davies with short video interviews from around the backgammon world. Upload and view newer videos of tournament action at YouTube.

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STRATEGY______________________

The Backgammon Learning Center
Lessons taught by Phil Simborg and other expert tournament players. For more tips to improve your game see the Web sites of top players Michael Bo, M@xFriis, Piranha, and Doug Zare. There are video lessons taught by Mochy and other champions at Back-gammon.TV. Follow Back-Gammon.TV new on Facebook.

CheckerPlay.com
A large categorized collection of computer-analyzed positions and problems. Follow Checkerplay new on Facebook. Read the position analysis articles by Robert Wachtel at backgammon.org. Store positions for study and future reference with the Backgammon Position Cards application for iPhone/iPod touch.

BlotBlog
Jens Göring hosts discussions in both English and German about backgammon positions drawn mostly from actual games played at DailyGammon. Also check the daily problem positions at BackgammonPuzzles. Some other blogs are Backgammon for Beginners, Backgammon Camp, Big Money Bill new, The Dorbel Daily, Dubrovnik, GammonGo, Mochy's Backgammon Study, and Nori's My Backgammon Study.

BGonline Forums
Online discussions hosted by Stick Rice with participation by many expert tournament players. The DragTheBar and Two Plus Two backgammon forums feature commentary by former World Champion Bill Robertie. For German speakers, there is Hardy's Backgammon Forum. The Kinchan strategy forum is in Japanese.

GammOnLine
Online magazine founded and formerly edited by Kit Woolsey still has many free archives of matches, articles, and quizzes. A one time payment of $36 allows members at Kit's GammonU to post messages to the discussion board forum and take part in interactive online matches (OLM) versus Kit.

The Opening Rolls
Computer rollouts by Stick Rice for the best way to play the first three moves. Also see the analyses by Acepoint, Murat Akcan, APBG.net, eXtreme Gammon, Tim Chow, Tom Keith, Christian Liebe-Harcort, M@xFriis, and Phil Simborg. There is a Wikipedia article on backgammon opening theory. Nack Ballard and Paul Weaver wrote Backgammon Openings Book A.

The Pip Count
Article by Michael Crane discussing various methods for easier and faster counting. Also see the counting and race analysis techniques of Ash Dalvi, Jack Kissane, Nigel Merrigan, Jean-Luc Seret, Edward O. Thorp, Bob Townsend, Walter Trice, and Doug Zare.

Bearoff Equities
Set of DVD's by Hugh Sconyers with calculated bearoff equities and backgame probabilities. Also download free databases for 4-checker bearoffs and one checker races. For bearoffs with up to nine checkers per side, the free Exact Bearoff program by MDG Software calculates the percentages. Gamer Cafe has a free online position evaluator. Also see Acepoint's bearoff analysis.

Match Equity Table
Find your percentage chances of winning from any match score as calculated by Kit Woolsey. other tables in use are Mec26 and Rockwell-Kazaross. applications of the table data are discussed by Tom Keith, Fabrice Liardet, and Stephen Turner.

Camden Tournament Quizzes
Test your knowledge with these challenging quiz problems by Phil Simborg. There are more quizzes at Backgammon in London, Checkerplay Challenge, GammOnLine, GammonLuck, TheDoublingCube, JBL, and M@xFriis. Serge Nicholas has posted in French a ten position Test. Japanese Web sites with quizzes are GammonDojo, Gammoner's High, JBL, Othello 2009, Othello 2011,and Yazawa's Page.

Paul's Backgammon Vaults
Choose from a large collection of recorded matches to replay on your Web browser. Also see the match files at Hardy's championship match archive.

Blowfish & Snowfish
Free software which uses the GNU Backgammon engine to replay and analyze recorded matches. Snowfish is a backgammon playing program. Also try the free online Backgammon Lab and GAMMONLAB, interactive boards for neural net analysis of positions and matches. BG Replay is a system for publishing games and lessons on the Web.

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COMPUTER PLAYERS_____________

GNU Backgammon GNU
Download free open source neural net software for championship-level play and analysis. The program has precompiled versions for Windows and MacOS X and also runs on Linux and Sun Solaris. Additional information may be found at the GNU Backgammon portal. User help is available from acepoint's home, All About GNU, Documentation Wiki, German Tutorial, Ken Larsen, Guided Tour, and the Japanese FAQ. Report bugs or wishes here. So what is GNU?

eXtreme Gammon
World-class artificial intelligence-based game player and analysis tool for Windows OS, available as an opponent on the GammonSite server or for download to play offline. Compare features with the BGBlitz, GnuBG and Snowie programs. Ken Larsen provides User help. Follow on Facebook new.

BGBlitz
Neural net backgammon player which has won the Gold Medal at the Computer Olympiad. Replay saved games and calculate cube strategy for matches with this versatile Java application which runs on Windows, Macintosh OS 9/X and Linux. "The Swiss-Army knife for backgammon." There is a BGBlitz page in Japanese. A version for cell phones and other mobile devices is BGBlitz2Go. Read an article about the making of BGBlitz2Go.

Ariston Backgammon
A neural net-based shareware Windows game program. Other artificial intelligence shareware game programs for Windows are 3D Backgammon, Backgammon Classic 7.2, Bob's Backgammon 2.0, and MVP Backgammon Professional. The free Monte Carlo neural net player also has a Backgammon-To-Lose version.

JellyFish
An expert-level player/tutor/analyzer neural network program for Windows. The Player 3.0 and Light 3.5 versions have freeware downloads.

TD-Gammon
The first expert-level neural network program, which was developed in 1991 by Gerald Tesauro for the IBM OS/2 operating system only. There is still a freeware download from 1995. Read more about TD-Gammon and the early programs inspired by it at Jay Scott's the neural net backgammon programs.

Beat a Backgammon Robot
Play and analyze matches or nackgammon games against "The Wall" computer opponent at its Java applet Web site. Meet other players at the Robot's Facebookgroup. Other Java-based Web computer players which require no download are by-art.com, David's Backgammon, Inertron, and Motif. You can embed the LabPixies backgammon gadget to play against on your iGoogle home page, blog or other personal Web site.

HC-Gammon
Play on the Web against an evolved neural network computer. The training of HC-Gammon at Brandeis University is discussed in the Wired magazine article "In Search of the Electronic Brain."

Skillgammon
"Skill-oriented" variant by WorldWinner for free online play against a computer-controlled opponent. There is no doubling and no dice rolling. Instead, players chose their rolls from among a small pre-selected set.

Serious Backgammon
Shareware game program with dice analysis which also plays the variations acey deucey, gul bara, hypergammon, longgammon, nackgammon, snake, and domino backgammon. Also see the shareware BGmrv. SmallRockets sells a game with versions for Windows XP and Linux platforms. The freeware Quick Backgammon by Geert Verkade has a separate random rolls creator file to download.

MaxGammon
Shareware program by StrongGames which offers a choice of opponents: human, computer or network game over LAN. Other programs with this feature are Romar BackGammon and TLK 3D Backgammon Unlimited.

David's Backgammon
Download the Windows or Macintosh version of David Byrum's shareware game program with speech recognition capability. David's Absolute Backgammon was designed for Mac OS X. Other games playable on OS X are BGBlitz and Hardwood Backgammon.

iGammon
Game application developed by Tom Keith to download for iPhone or iPod touch. Read Tom's article. Other computer opponents for Apple mobile devices are Art Deco Backgammon 3D, Astraware, Backgammon by George, , Backgammon Guru Pro, Backgammon NJ, Backgammon Pro , Backgammon Professional, Freeverse Big Bang, PlayScreen, and PosiMotion. Trivial Backgammon Premium is Plus+ social play network-enabled. There is also a Backgammon Position Cards application for iPhone/iPod touch.

True Backgammon HD for iPad
Download the fully featured game app in English and German for play against the computer or against a friend. Other game apps for iPad are Backgammon HD+ new, Backgammon Guru Pro, and Backgammon NJ HD. A game for Kindle devices is Compulab True Backgammon and for the Barnes and Noble NOOK there is the Agile Fusion Backgammon new app.

Backgammon for BlackBerry
By developer Handmark. Other computer opponents to play on your BlackBerry are Backgammon Mania, BGBlitz2Go, Odesys, and Win @ Backgammon.

MobileBG
Download a free J2ME game for playing on your telephone against a computer or another player on the same phone. Other wireless games for various handsets with these features are by Air Strategy, BGBlitz2Go, Gameloft, Logler, Odesys, and Twistbox. For Windows Mobile Smartphone and PDA devices there are computer games by Astraware and Koma-Code. For the special features of the Palm Pre phone, PlayScreen has designed backgammon and other games. For Android, there is Backgammon NJ and Astraware Boardgames.

MegaGammon 4.0 for Palm OS
Play backgammon and narde (feuga) against the computer on all handhelds running Palm OS 5.0 or greater. Other game programs for the Palm operating system are Astraware, Agushka, Cunning Fox, Handmark, Power Media, Stand Alone Backgammon Pro, and ZingMagic.

PocketGammon
Game for the PocketPC. Other games for the PocketPC platform are by Astraware, BGLightCE, ChromaGames, Megasoft, Handmark, and ZingMagic. There are screenshots and reviews for seven PocketPC games at TC's Blog.

KSE Backgammon 4.0
AI software for play on the Windows Mobile 5.0 platform. Megasoft2000 has the Backgammon 1.0 (UIQ 3.0) opponent for Symbian OS. For the Nokia 9200 series Communicator device there is 92NBackgammon and MTIT Backgammon 1.8.

Touch Screen Backgammon
Portable handheld game from Excalibur. Also see Einstein Touch Backgammon.

FIBS (First Internet Backgammon Server)_____

FIBS Home Page
Official Web site for the free cross-platform backgammon server created in 1992 by Andreas (marvin) Schneider. To play, use the TELNET DNS address fibs.com:4321 or download one of the graphical interfaces. You can also use the java applet registration tool. Check the current FIBS connection status at FIBS Board and sometimes at pattib.org. If FIBS is down, try the free melBG or TigerGammon servers, which work with the FIBS-compatible graphical clients.

FIBS Board
Forum for discussions, news, pictures, archived files and online tournaments. Follow FIBSdotcom on Twitter. You can help edit the FIBS Wiki. For tournament information check FibsLeaGammon and David Escoffery's page. Is FIBS an experimental tool for the study of induced dysfunction?

FIBzilla
Download free Windows graphical client, formerly known as 3DFiBs, for play on FIBS and offline against the GnuBG bot. Other free clients are C4FIBS, DelFibs, RealFIBS and the original, FIBS/W. The shareware Beggar's Backgammon Terminal is a Windows-based graphical client by Gamer Cafe for play on FIBS. The free FibsCE client was created for handheld computers with the Windows CE operating system.

JavaFIBS
Multi-platform Java-powered graphical interface for FIBS which works with Windows, MacOS, Linux, Solaris, AIX and OS/2. See the How to connect page. The free ParlorPlay browser-based client interface works with Windows, Mac and Linux and requires no download or Java.

MacFIBS
Shareware FIBS graphical interface for Macintosh with many custom boards. Download the Backgammon Play-O-Matic companion program to save and replay games. CocoaFIBS is a free native client for Mac OS 10.3 or higher.

Backgammon Online 2
Download the sucessor of the first Internet-capable app for iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app using FIBS. Client programs for mobile phones with Java/MIDP support are Odesys Backgammon 3.0 and MobileFIBS. A FIBS client is included with BGBlitz2Go 2.1.0 for most mobile phones which support Java.

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ONLINE PLAY SITES_______________

BGroom
Play backgammon games and tournaments for money. Other primarily backgammon sites to play for money are BackgammonMasters, GammonEmpire/Play65, Partouche, PartyGammon, and PlayWSOB.

SafeHarborGames
Download the software to play backgammon, NO HIT backgammon, and other games for free. There are leagues , ladders, and GammonZone tournaments. Also see the Renaissance Games Online and World Gaming Center play sites for leagues, ladders, and online tournaments.

GridGammon
Download the Windows client software to play or watch for free. Many top tournament players may be found here, including many who formerly played at GameAccount GamesGrid, when it was still available to players in the USA and other countries. There is also a GridGammon client for Mac OS X new.

NetGammon
Download the client software to play for free or as a Premium member. The International Backgammon Alliance runs online tournaments and the IBA League.

GammonSite
Play backgammon for free or as a paid member using GameSite 2000 software. You can also play the hypergammon, long gammon and nackgammon variations. eXtreme Gammon is an expert-level resident neural network player. Online head-to-head play, leagues and tournaments for money are hosted by Gammon Ventures.

Games4Money
Play backgammon or acey deucey against real people for free or real money. It also pays to play fee-based tournament backgammon and the many other games at bwin, DiceArena, GameColony, GameDesire, William Hill, King, Ladbrokes, and Rubl.com.

GameAccount
AdobeFlash multiplayer backgammon and other games for free or money. Note: GameAcount prohibits access to players in the USA and some other countries. Other backgammon play sites which are part of the Game Account Network and may not be available in your country are CasinoRip, MoneyGaming, and Worldgammon.

Vinco Online Games (VOG)
Download the client software designed for the Internet Explorer browser to play backgammon and other games for free. The available variations include acey-deucey, gul bara (crazy narde), hypergammon, long gammon, nackgammon, narde (feuga), and tapa.

Yahoo! Games
Free Java-based server for backgammon and other games. Yahoo!Games hosts its own sites for backgammon Answers, Games Groups, Groups, Leagues, Message Board, News, Shopping and Yahoo!Kids. There are tournament leagues at Eliters. Backdoors to backgammon game rooms are right over here.

Pogo.com
Free Java-based site to play backgammon and other games. Pogo is home to World League Backgammon competition. For backgammon room backdoors look here. Other free Java-based multiplayer games sites with backgammon are Games.com, Gamesville, GameTable Online, GameTwist, Nidink, PlayJava, PlayOK, and ZooEscape. Download the free Onlinebandit software to chat and play backgammon and other games. Download the VPChat client software for chat and to play backgammon and acey-deucy.

Novel Games
Free Internet multiplayer backgammon for any OS capable of running Adobe Flash. Novel Games also has the variants Gul Bara and Tapa. Some other free Flash sites requiring no game download are GamesGames, GamingPeak, I-play, and NabiscoWorld. To play backgammon at MSN Games, requires the Internet 7 or later browser.

Hardwood Backgammon
Play either by yourself against the computer or online anytime with people everywhere. Available from Silvercreek Entertainment with downloads for Windows, Mac OSX, and XBox 360. The version for Android moble devices is Hardwood Backgammon THD.

SweBoard
Free Java client to play backgammon and many variations, including the Swedish boardgame bräde. Sites for German-speaking players are BrettspielWelt, LiveBackgammon, MeinGAMES, Skill7, and Speedgamez. BigGammon, in German and English, requires the Macromedia Flash 8.0 player plugin.

Internet Backgammon
Shareware Windows program by Rod Carty which provides a two-player game where the players can be either sharing one computer or on a network with TCP/IP, requiring no separate server. Also see the newer Gammonet new program.

DailyGammon
Free turn-based backgammon, where you sign up for one or more matches with other players on the site, complete a series of moves (move sequence) in each of your matches, and the server records your moves. Later, your opponent will log in and respond to your moves. When you log in again, those moves will be waiting for you! By this method, over the course of a few weeks you can complete an entire backgammon match, spending only a few minutes a day. There are single elimination and alternative tournaments. Add the iGoogle Dailygammon Updater gadget to track your status.

GamesByEmail
Free correspondence gaming for backgammon and other games. The free turn-based (non-realtime) backgammon at It's Your Turn is similar to playing by e-mail but using a graphical Web interface which requires no download or Java and is compatible with MSN WebTV. Other free turn-based playsites are BrainKing, GoldToken, Turn Play, and YourTurnMyTurn. Richard's PBeM Server offers free backgammon, deadgammon, grandgammon, hypergammon, malaka, moultezim, nackgammon, plakoto, savoy and spiro via e-mail. You can convert game records to text format usable by Snowie and Gnu Bg.

Apple Game Center
Download the FaceMe Backgammon app to play on the multiplayer social gaming network for iOS 4.2 or later devices. Another app for Game Center is Trivial Technology Backgammon new.

Backgammon King for Blackberry
Multiplayer games at the Magmic Gamezone. Mobile devices with J2ME/BREW can play Unplugged Backgammon.

Come2Play
Social networking flash widget can be used to add multiplayer backgammon to Facebook new, iGoogle, or any other personal Web page. For Skype Internet phone calls download EasyBits Backgammon.

GammonZone
Runs free tournaments at Safe Harbor Games which are played for ratings and Life Masters points. Check the GZ online news. Other online tournaments are listed at the Zone Championship Series Web site.

Case's Ladder
Challenge ladders and leagues for various backgammon servers are listed here and at MyLeague.com. Winsome's blog has An Introduction to Case's. Free tournament-based online leagues are also listed at Eliters. Warp Gammon hosts tournaments and has a comparative review chart of servers where matches may be played.

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PUBLICATIONS____________________

Chicago Point
"A Prime Source of Backgammon Information." Preview the final issues of the print newsletter and view other free online material. Back issues of the online version are stored here and here. Follow Editor Bill Davis on Twitter.

Flint Area BackgammoNews
Online preview of the monthly print newsletter edited by club director Carol Joy Cole.

Bibafax
Bi-monthly magazine of the British Isles Backgammon Association which is available in a full-colour PDF version.

Backgammon Bibliography
Art Grater's comprehensive compilation of books, articles and dissertations. Also see Hardy's Bibliography of books published either in English or German. For further information and reviews see Backgammon Galore! Books. Search the full text of books with Google Book Search to find references to backgammon. Compare prices from many online stores for new and used books at AllBookstores, BooksPrice, FetchBook, and UKBookWorld. Use WorldCat to search library catalogs worldwide.

The Gammon Press
Bill Robertie's site selling books by Bill and other authors. Cardoza also publishes books by Bill Robertie. The 2004 edition of Backgammon by Paul Magriel is published by Clock and Rose Press. Backgammon Giants Nack Ballard and Paul Weaver have authored a book on Backgammon Openings. Also see Jeremy Bagai's Fortuitous Press, Mike Corbett Books, and Danny Kleinman's Backgammon Books. Books by Danny Kleinman and Chris Bray can be purchased at lulu.com. Chris Bray is the author of Backgammon for Dummies.

The Backgammon E-book
Register with the World Backgammon Association and download for free the 95-page electronic book by Stefan Gueth, How to become a Backgammon Hog. There is also a free open-content backgammon Web textbook at Wikibooks.

"Backgammon Hustler"
Article published in 1999 in Cigar Aficionado magazine. Find more articles about backgammon for a fee at HighBeam Research and NewspaperARCHIVE. Also check Google News and Topix for news articles that mention backgammon. Search for technical journal articles with Google Scholar.

Backgammon Board'O'Matic
Publish your own backgammon writings with this free online tool to generate board diagram images suitable for printing and inserting into other documents, including Web pages. You can Generate a Backgammon Board Interactively with GABBI. Other tools are APBG.net Board Diagrams, Backgammon Board Service, and Board Component Images. Use the Monte Carlo font to create backgammon diagrams in either the TrueType or PostScript format for Mac or Windows. You can download pdf files to print position cards. BG Replay is a system for publishing backgammon games and lessons on the Web.

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BOARDS__________________________

GammonVillage Store
Shop online from a wide selection of boards, books, software, and accessories. Other online sources to purchase backgammon merchandise are Carol Joy Cole's Backgammon a La Carte and the Backgammon Shop of Chris Ternel.

Taki-Boards
Handcrafted sets by Tak Morioka with lightweight hardwood cases and velvet playing surfaces available in many color combinations.

Svilo Boards
Large attache case sets with the famous Svilo leather dice cups designed and hand made in Bulgaria by Svilen Todorov. Other top quality leather briefcase style sets are sold online by Aspinal of London, Asprey, BAK, Bamford & Sons, Brahma, CBB, Dunhill, FM Gammon, Vitor Hollanda, Michelli, Genesis Naylor, Geoffrey Parker, Renzo Romagnoli, Hector Saxe, T.Anthony, Tim's Custom Leather, Wycliffe Brothers® new, Zaza & Sacci, and Zontik Games. For wood-framed leather tabletop boards see Deuce, Elliot Pielle Delgado, Estes Leather, and JWA Leather Art.

Crisloid
Manufacturers of attaché and table top backgammon sets and accessories in the U.S. since 1948. Follow Crisloid on Facebook. Cork Crisloid sets are also sold online at Zontik Games.

Wrapgammon™
Roll-up soft leather integrated game board designed by Mads Ehrhardt. Other roll-up travel sets are sold online at Aspinal of London, BagGammon, Estes Village, Levenger, Links of London, Thomas Lyte, Muhrpot.at, Mulholland Brothers, Packgammon, PureModern, Rose & Pentagram, Under Cover UK, Vivre, and Wood Expressions. For a really big board see the Jaques Giant Outdoor Set, which rolls out to 55"x55".

Backgammon Tables
Elegant and functional two layer glass table by Sonné. Also see the game tables at Alexandra new, Amy Art, Cambor Games, Chess Express, DavidLevyCreations, Deuce, French Accents, GameTableStore, Gasperetti, George Jaques, Hamilton, HandmadeTables, JaMar, Mark Lackley, MacGregor, Malachite Art, Morini, PMD, Perczek, PlazaGallery, Hector Saxe, Tony Sinnett, The Source Collection, Stacks and Stacks, Stars Art and Design, Sy-Game, Wood Expressions, and Zimmerman.

A & K Backgammon Shop
Extensive online catalog of backgammon boards and accessories from Germany. Other German Web sites with many boards and dice for sale are FTH Backgammon, Gammoner, and Weible Spiele. Also visit Columbus, the Austrian online games shop. The Swedish store Gammon Games also sells backgammon products online.

The Backgammon Store
One of the many Web sites to shop for boards and accessories. Some of the others are Ancient Games, BackgammonHellas, BackgammonPlus, Bello Games New York, Boardgames.com, Cambor Games, Compleat Gamester, The Game Preserve, Gameroom Store, David Levy, Mall Domino, Masters Games, PokerChest, Shanghai Tang, Sonné, Sy-Game, and Yenigun.

Your Move Chess and Games
Shop from the wide selection of backgammon sets and accessories at the Web site of America's largest chess store. You can also buy backgammon boards online at Chess Express, Chess Forum, Chess Sets Gallery, and The London Chess Centre. Antique backgammon sets are bought and sold at Antique Chess Shop.

The Gloucester Tabulae Set
Limited edition reproductions for sale of the oldest surviving backgammon set. The Waterloo Museum of Games has a virtual exhibit of unusual old backgammon boards.

Diamond Backgammon Board
The world's most expensive backgammon set. The Renault F1 carbon fiber set is made with sterling silver and Formula One racecar materials and sells for over US$27K. There are also carbon fiber sets by Ferrari and Lotus and a diamond plate Harley-Davidson set. Other unusual but less expensive sets are made using acrylic, embroidery, malachite, marbles, pyrography, recycled cardboard, and salt crystals.

Make Your Own Board
Plans for small do-it-yourself projects from DIY network. There are woodworking plans for boards at eHow, LumberJocks, and U-bild. HGTV has free directions for making a fused glass set. Make your own knitted, quilted, cross stitch, or needlepoint board with the patterns for playing surfaces using themes of compass roses, garden flowers, giraffes, and lighthouses. Woollythoughts.com has plans for an knitted afghan board. You can even make a simple game board using duct tape or an Altoids tin. Do a patent search for even more unique board designs.

Virtual Backgammon Board for iPad
Download Sushi Backgammon Japanese theme board app to play against a friend on your iPad.

Backgammon Scoreboard
Add the optimised Michael Bo Backgammon Scoreboard to your set. There is also an iPhone/iPod Touch version of this scoreboard.

Backgammon Auction
For older, hard-to-find equipment, place your bid at the eBay online auction or buy it now from there. Also browse the boards and tables offerred for sale at Amazon and Google Products. You may need a currency converter.

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DICE_____________________________

Are the Dice Fair?
Read about how the random dice rolls are generated for Ariston, Backgammon NJ, BackgammonMasters, BGBlitz, BGBlitz2go, DailyGammon, GamesByEmail, GammonSite, It's Your Turn, JellyFish, MSN Games, and MobileBG, and Serious Backgammon new. Compare statistics for actual dice rolls on FIBS, GammonSite, and Motif. Fill out the Official Complaint Form.

Unfair Dice
Article by mathematician Ivars Peterson. Also see the MathWorld Dice article and Dice by Joe Celko. Read about dice coordinate systems. Examples of very unfair dice are at Gambling Collectibles and Highland Games.

Precision Dice
The fairest-rolling dice. The corners of backgammon precision dice are rounded to add additional "action" to the dice as well as to prevent marring of the playing surface. The spots are drilled and filled with material of the same weight as the rest of the die and will have flush faces. Puchase online at Bello Games, BgShop, Dice Games, GammonCity, Gammon Press, GammonVillage, Svilo, and Zontik Games. Zontik also sells luxurious non-precision Swarovski crystal studded dice with an alligator carrying case.

The Meyer Dice Tube
Instead of using a rolling cup give your dice a fair shake by flipping the closed clear tube with 13 rubber rods inside. See the advantages of this method for playing backgammon.

Web Dice Roller
Random.org has virtual dice whose randomness comes from atmospheric noise. The PBM Dice Server uses a MD5-based random number generator to provide up to one thousand impartial dice rolls per message for players of board games by mail. Download Fullpower MotionX-Dice to shake on your iPhone or iPad. There is also a My Dice iPhone application to download. Build your own very random electronic dice for use at home or in the car with the Hobbytron Dual Electronic Dice kit.

Dice and the Laws of Probability
A lesson by Edward D. Collins from Ed's ever-growing Backgammon Page. Paul Stephen's Dice Roll Probabilities illustrate the odds. Roll the dice online to demonstrate the Central Limit Theorem.

DiceCollector.com
The Web home for Kevin Cook's world's largest collection of dice, with lots of general information and dice links.

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DIVERSIONS______________________

Backgammon Videos
Search with Truveo for videos from Google, Vimeo, and YouTube and other channels across the Web. Broadcast and view videos of lessons and tournament action at eHow, MonkeySee, Ustream.tv, and Yahoo! There are video lessons by Mochy and other champions at Back-gammon.TV. Mind Engagement Media specializes in filming backgammon events for television or the Internet.

Backgammon Images
Picsearch results for online pictures and animations. Other sources for image searches across the Internet are Ask, Bing, blekko, Google, Wikimedia, and Yahoo! Also search the smaller collections at BoardGameGeek, Can Stock Photo Clipart, Corbis, Dreamstime, Flickr, Fotosearch, Image Source, Inmagine, iStockphoto, Jupiterimages, PBase, Photobucket, Picasa, ShutterStock, Thinkstock and Webshots. There is a free backgammon design at Wallpaper Originals. Submit your own backgammon pictures and comments at the eXtreme backgammon! blog.

BG Art Gallery
Images collected from the Web by the Nashville Backgammon Club of backgammon scenes in famous old paintings and advertising. Hardy has more images of backgammon in advertising. Other online collections of art about backgammon may be found at AllPosters, ARC, Art.com, Art Prints on Demand, Artcyclopedia, Artmundi, Bridgeman Art Library, Canvaz, Svilo's Gallery, and The Origin of Backgammon. Artist Ara Peterson has created many colorful wooden backgammon boards. At The Art of Reconciliation exhibition Web site are sixty backgammon sets painted by contemporary artists to symbolize the desire for peace and reconciliation between nations.

Backgammon T-Shirts and Gifts
Backgammon designs printed on clothing, tote bags, coasters, mugs, mousepads and other items are sold online at Cafe Press and at Zazzle. Shop online for backgammon tee shirts at Cruelest Game, Spreadshirt, or Tagbanger. Backgammon-theme jewelry and accessories are for sale at BackgammonElegance.

Tabular History of Backgammon
Hardy Hübener's illustrated history of the game in English and German. The Origin of Backgammon Web site traces in English and French the ancestors of backgammon since 1130 which use the same starting position as the modern game. James Masters' brief Backgammon History has Japanese and Spanish translations. Bill Davis has compiled the known historical facts on Backgammon and Doubling.

Ancient Backgammon OLD
The Sumerian Royal Game of Ur is the oldest known board game. You can play the game online with a two player Shockwave version or download Ur to play at Tams11 multiplayer Gaming Lobby. The ancient Egyptians played Senet, which is another possible ancestor of modern backgammon. A Norse version of Senet is Valhalla. Download Senet Deluxe apps for iPad and iPhone. The Royal Game of Ur and Senet are playable as Windows shareware programs. Novel Games offers free flash multiplayer versions of the Royal Game of Ur and Senet. More historical info and links to play Senet on your computer are at Terry's The Game of Senet new. Read more about the history of ancient games at Lucky Dogs Games

Roman Backgammon
The ancient Romans played the board game tabula, which evolved from Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum. Try the game Duodecim Scripta yourself for free online at Novel Games. Also see Games of the Viking & Anglo-Saxon Age for a version played during the Roman Iron Age. Some old Asian versions of the game are saka, ssang-ryouk and sugoroku.

Early Backgammon
Rules for some of the more recent ancestors of modern backgammon, as reconstructed from their descriptions in books from the seventeenth century. Also see the old games of dublets and ticktack. Swedish-Tables Association seeks to rekindle interest in a seventeenth century version of the board game.

The Trictrac Home Page
David Levy's exploration of the game which was popular in French society prior to the revolution. Also see Le jeu de Trictrac. Soumille is the the First Trictrac Program. The free TricTracManiac program plays by Dutch rules. The game of Jacquet was started around 1800 with the decline of trictrac.

Tavli
History of the Greek game with the variations known as portes, feyga and plakoto. Also see Games of Crete and the German page So spielt man Tavli. You can play all three variations online against other Internet players over the Tavli Network for Windows or Macintosh. To play the three games against the computer download the Leon or Palamedes Windows software. For Linux there is the free Tavli3d to download. The World Tavli Championship Challenge club is in Florida.

Tawle
Play online against the computer at Fuzztak.com in English and Arabic. Tawle contains three different versions of backgammon, the most popular ones in the Middle East: Sheish Beish, Ma7booseh and 31.

Narde
Rules for the variant similar to fevga and moultezim which is popular in Russia. There is a narde new app for Apple devices and also for Android new.

Acey Deucey
The rules according to Hoyle for a variation which has been popular in the U.S. Navy. Download the shareware Absolute Acey Deucey for Macintosh OS X. Play the game online at Games4money, VOG, or VPchat and elsewhere. There is also a Java version of Acey Deucy which you can use to play online against a friend or computer opponent.

Hyper-Backgammon
Computer oppponent by Hugh Sconyers for the variation played with only three checkers per side. CD-ROM may be ordered from Backgammon A La Carte. You can also play the game with Tower Software Serious Backgammon and at various online playsites. Another three checker variant is Nannon by Professor Jordan Pollack, which uses a pocket size six-point board. The game Blockade requires sixteen checkers per player and uses only half of the backgammon board.

Chouette
Basic rules and common variations for a form of backgammon played by three or more. Other versions of the rules appear on the pages of Atlanta BG, Bg ACT, Backgammon Galore, ESOB, MSN Games, Wikibooks, and Wikipedia. Also see a set of rules for a chouette tournament. Printable chouette scoresheets are available from BPC Chicago new and M@xFriis. To help you keep score for up to ten players there is the Chouette Calculator software by Gamer Cafe. Play online for free with the Chouette Nation client software.

Doubles Backgammon
Boardgame for partners which also has a free Internet version at HigherGames. A variation playable by three people at once is Trigammon. Games for four individual players are Circle Gammon, Quadgammon, and Quadragammon. Zodiac is a seven-player variant from the 13th century played with three seven-sided dice.

Chebache
Board game patented by Scott D. Pardee, which combines elements of backgammon, checkers, and chess. Online there is a Chebache discussion group and a free Internet version at HigherGames. For offline computer play there is Windows software to download. Some other hybrid backgammon games include diceless backgammon, domino backgammon, gamma chess, No Chance backgammon, and wargammon.

Mindgammon
Variant which requires a special linear board. Special boards are also required to play "3D" Skill /Fast backgammon, Quackgammon, Savoy, and Twistgammon. The variant game Piphit uses the regular board but with a rules change for the dice throws. Read David Markwick's Piphit article. Martian Backgammon, IceGammon and Kotra are Icehouse Games.

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Updated January 4, 2012
Please send your comments and suggestions for missing links to Mel Leifer. Spammer Alert: Links to advertising Web sites owned by marketing affiliates for online play sites will only be considered if the Web site offers unique appropriate backgammon content not already covered on this page. I am also not interested in exchanging links with poker and casino gambling Web sites.

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