“Backgammon is the game of our age. The Munenori and their
Contiguities see it as a sport for kings, able to be played sitting. For the
commoners, though, it is the correct balance of chance and strategy. In Chess,
there is nothing uncertain save your enemy’s strategy. That’s nothing like
life. And in Dice, there is nothing planned, only the value of a face roll. In
Backgammon, you roll and are given this many spaces to move your units, and
must move wisely. You plan into chance, and you organize what you’re given, all
at the peril of another person who is doing the same. You need to build blots
of defenses, but you also need to expand beyond them, into increasingly
perilous territory. To each player there is a reassurance. To the strategist,
there is strategy. To the layfolk, there is the luck of the roll. Neither skill
nor chance will grant you victory every time. Best and last: you can get
exceedingly lucky and make it all the way to the end, then not roll the proper
numbers to get your pieces off the board. It’s the board game equivalent of
losing a war to budgeting, which is the theme of our age.”
I discovered the hard way how much impact strategy had. My partner and I used to play - with the stakes domestic chores. Initially we were fairly evenly matched. Then he began to win almost all of the time - until I discovered (and read) a book on backgammon strategy.
ReplyDeleteMaking Backgammon sound cool is an amazing achievement. Well done!
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