History of Backgammon
 The roots of Backgammon can be traced back to an ancient Egyptian game by the name of Senet. The game loosely resembles our current game of Backgammon as each move was controlled by the roll of a dice. Likewise, the game Royal Game of Ur, which was played in ancient Mesopotamia around 3000 BC, also resembled Backgammon, having two dice and 60 checkers. The ancient Romans had their version of the game as well called Ludus Duodecim Scriptorium (Game of Twelve Lines). The game used a board with three rows of 12 points each. The checker pieces were then moved around the board by the use of a dice.
During the 11th century, the jeux de tables (Game of Tables) first appeared in France and quickly became a favorite pastime. In 1254, Louis IX issued a decree which prohibited his court officials and subjects from playing the game. Regardless, the game still spread to Germany in the 12th century and Iceland in the 13th. By the 17th century, the games hit Sweden. From this time period, Backgammon can be seen in many historical paintings including ones by Caravaggio, Bosch and more. By the 18th century, Backgammon was once again popular within the English clergy. Edmund Hoyle published “A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gommon” in 1743, which described the rules and strategy. Since then, the game hasn’t changed substantially.
The one major alteration was introduced during the 1920’s in New York City. There, the doubling cube was added. This required players to select the best move in a position AND estimate the probability of winning from said position. That addition transformed it into the expected value driven game played today.
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