Backgammon - Back gammon

A game played by two players using 30 pieces, 15 pieces painted black and white or red and white, and four dice, two pieces of the same color, on a board. It is often played as a gambling game. It is a game of the same type as Bansugoroku, which was introduced from the continent during the Hakuho period (late 7th century) and became the origin of gambling in Japan. Its history dates back to the Mesopotamian dynasty around 3000 BC, and its prototype has been excavated from ruins.

The game is played by taking turns to roll two dice in a dice box, and players choose to move their pieces by either moving two pieces based on the number of dots rolled or moving one piece based on the total number of dots rolled. The winner is the player who either collects all of his pieces in the place specified by the rules or removes all of his pieces. In Japan, the "Sukuroku Prohibition Order" was issued in the third year of the reign of Empress Jito (689), but from around the 13th century, other countries around the world began to ban the game one after another, and it fell into disuse for a long time. In 1925, a rule called doubling was invented in the United States, and the game began to become popular again, and is now widely played around the world. In Japan, the Japan Backgammon Association was established in 1974 (Showa 49), which unified the rules and holds the Japan Backgammon Championship every year.

[Kuramochi Sadasuke]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

盤上で黒・白または赤・白の二色に塗り分けられた15個ずつ30個の駒(こま)と、駒と同色のダイス2個ずつ4個を使用して2人で争うゲーム。賭(か)け事として行われることが多い。白鳳(はくほう)時代（7世紀後半）に大陸から伝えられ日本の賭け事の起源になった盤双六(ばんすごろく)と同系統のゲームであり、歴史は古く紀元前3000年ごろのメソポタミア王朝にまでさかのぼり、遺跡からはその原型が発掘されている。

　ゲームは、交互にダイス2個をダイスボックスに入れて振り、出た目数を別々に2個の駒か、合計の目数を1個の駒か、いずれかを選んで駒を進め、自分の駒全部を、ルールで定められている自分の場所に集めるか、上がりにして全部を外に出したほうが勝ちとなる。日本では持統(じとう)天皇の3年（689）に「雙六(すくろく)禁断之令」が発布されて禁じられたが、13世紀ごろから世界各国も相次いでこれを禁じ、長い間廃れていた。1925年アメリカでダブリングdoublingというルールが考案されてふたたび流行し始め、現在は世界中で広く行われている。日本では1974年（昭和49）に日本バックギャモン協会が設立され、諸規則を統一するとともに、毎年日本バックギャモン選手権大会を開催している。

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