Segraeti - 14 / Dec / 2022
Tic Tac Tic Tac... Christmas is fast approaching... Have you bought the Christmas presents yet? If you're late, find our selection of gift ideas made up of family games to put under the tree.
The game of Backgammon is a must, this strategy game is one of the oldest known to man, along with go and chess. It is probably around 5,000 years old and may well have come from what is now Iraq, ancient Mesopotamia. Recent evidence to support this was found when these very first dice, made from human bones, were discovered in the region.
The history of backgammon spanned several continents and countries, from Egypt to Iran, passing through England and even China.
The word backgammon first appeared in print in 1645. No one knows for sure where the name came from, but most scholars agree that it most likely comes from Middle English baec = back and gamen = game.
Backgammon is a simple game, consisting of a backgammon board, fifteen white pawns, fifteen black pawns and two dice. There are 24 narrow triangles on the board, called dots, of alternating colors, which are grouped into four quadrants of six triangles each. Each player has an inner board and an outer board, each consisting of six triangles, facing those of the other player.
The object of the game is for the player to move all his checkers to his home board before his opponent. Only then can players begin to remove all of their checkers from their home board. Pawns are moved based on the roll of the dice, and players can "hit" their opponent's pieces and force them to the bar in order to start over from the beginning. It is a game of luck and skill which remains an excellent gift idea to offer to those who like to play it or to discover it. Find our selection of backgammons here.
Some historians say the origins of poker can be traced to a domino card game played by a 10th century Chinese emperor; others claim it is a descendant of the Persian card game "As Nas", which dates back to the 16th century. Poker's closest European predecessor was Poque, which spread to France in the 17th century.
The standard 52-card deck, sometimes with the addition of one or two jokers, is used. Poker is a one-pack game, but today in virtually all games played in clubs and among top players, two color-contrasting packs are used in order to speed up play. While one pack is distributed, the other is mixed and prepared for the next distribution. The procedure for two decks is as follows: While the deal is in progress, the previous dealer collects all the cards from the deck he dealt, shuffles them and places them to the left. When it's time to move on to the next deal, the shuffled deck is passed to the next dealer. In many games in which two packs are used, the dealer's left opponent, instead of the right opponent, cuts the pack.
Easy to set up and play, this strategy test seems to have been around for years. However, if you asked around, chances are no one would be able to tell you where the much-loved game came from. Some learn the game as children on the paper tablecloths of their local restaurants waiting for the dishes to arrive.
The modern word 'shatranj', used in both Farsi and Arabic, clearly derives from the Sanskrit 'chaturanga'", in Indian.
Although no single individual can be named as the inventor of chess, an ancient legend names Grand Vizier Sissa Ben Dahir as the originator of the game. According to the story, he presented the first chessboard to King Shirham of India, but given that the first written reference to this tale dates from 1256, it is highly likely that it is not only apocryphal, but has no basis in reality.
However, not all historians agree that chess originated in India. In a 1996 essay, Spanish chess player and historian Ricardo Calvo wrote that it was most definitely invented in Iran, a conclusion drawn largely on the basis that ancient Persian literature mentions chess before it is mentioned in Indian literature. Check out our chess boards here.
We offer a selection of games that are sure to please your friends and family. You can choose from a wide range of board games and card games, including some of the most popular table games around.
Find our selection available in the Segraeti Monte-Carlo boutique and on our website segraetishop.com.
