Backgammon
As part of my degree in computer sciences, I have the option, which I have taken, to take some of my course online. Some of the courses are just simple programming courses that are meant to just reinforce and slowly introduce new concepts in to our repertoire for future classes that will build on them. There are also electives that can be taken online that actually can count as part if my major. Of these classes that I am taking now is all about the history of gaming. It is basically a history analysis of the development of statistical and strategic games. We began by looking at all of the types of online gaming that is now available and how these venues have shaped our way of approaching the future games that we as programmers may want to develop. The next step was we went way back to the beginning of games to when strategic games were just really meant to keep the mind sharpened for war. The game that struck me the most in this lesson has been backgammon. I didn't't know much about the game before this class but now it has begun to grow on me as I have been playing it more and more. The game originated in the middle east and in northern Africa around three thousand years ago approximately. Not much is really known about the rules of the game at the time, but the layout was quite similar to what we see today. The game that we really know now developed out of the Roman influence in the first and second centuries AD. These games really became standardized because of their popularity among the Emperors and leaders of all sorts. The closest versions of online backgammon that I could find, to these early versions, are known as Acey-Duecy and Puff. These versions all start out with players rolling dice to begin each piece entering on to the game board. Though these early rules have trickled down from the past, many version have developed because of the games dissemination throughout the rest of the world. Natural variations have occurred between different countries' versions of backgammon.