It is thought that backgammon originated in ancient Rome. A game called Tabula with rules identical to backgammon was traced back to emperor Zeno’s rule in AD 476 – 481. In the United Kingdom popularisation of backgammon began in the 18th century. Prior to this the playing of table games was prohibited by Elizabethan laws and the church.
Backgammon is played globally. The world championships started in 1964 with the first backgammon tournament being held in the Bahamas. The competition was held there until 1979 when it moved to Monte Carlo.
IBM created the world’s first computerised backgammon player called TD-Gammon in the 1980’s. IBM’s invention and the development of servers designed to host backgammon games now allows players from all countries to compete almost instantaneously.
