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Backgammon Articles
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Backgammon Name Origin
The term "backgammon" describes the discussed game in all the English speaking countries as well as in Western Europe. "Backgammon" also refers to a type of scoring gained by a player whose opponent has not borne off even a single piece and still have checker/s on the bar, tripling the winner's score and possibly his earnings. The name backgammon is much younger than the backgammon game itself, which its oldest relic is dated to 3000 BC and is recognized as the most ancient board game in history.
The first time the term "backgammon" appeared in a printed document was the 17th century, thus it is believed the origin of the name is from the Middle English for "back game" (bac-gammen). According to other assumptions, backgammon is Welsh for "little battle" (little=back battle=gammon).
The Persian Journal published a thorough article on the inventor of the first scientific version of backgammon, a minister of the Sassanid Empire named Borzouyeh, and suggests a new direction to the search of the derivation of the name backgammon.
Backgammon has several names in Iran: Nard, Takhteh-Nard and Bakhtazmoon. Since backgammon had arrived to Europe in the 13th century after the game rules have been documented in Persian literature, it is almost inevitable to wonder whether "backgammon" is not a solecism of bakhtazmoon.
The term "bakhtazmoon" is composed of the Iranian word for luck (bakht) and test (azmoon), creating the meaning test for luck, a meaning that reduces the complexity of the game to the crucial moments of rolling the dice. Backgammon as a little battle offers a more accurate prospect of the strategic game.
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