Matthew BaileyOn the 5th day of Christmas, my children played with me… FIVE CARLSBERG CHIPS!, Four Sad Snowmen, Three Magnetic Mazes, Two “Unmatched: Witcher” sets, and a reaction game I played with all three!
Disclaimer: I go a bit off tangent here for please skip forward if you only want to read my thoughts about playing Backgammon with kids.
About 18 years ago, long before we had kids and before we were even married, Katie and I took a trip to Copenhagen. On our tour around the Carlsberg Brewery, we ended up spending a decent chunk of our holiday spending money on a beautiful Backgammon set—the one you can see pictured here.
Unfortunately, when we got home, we were devastated to find that the set was missing three white chips. This was back in the days when the world wasn’t quite as connected as it is now, and we didn’t really have an easy way to contact the brewery. As far as I could tell, this set was exclusive to the Carlsberg Brewery and wasn’t available online or anywhere else. I couldn’t track down replacement chips, nor could I figure out which company actually produced the set.
So, it went up into the loft and was all but forgotten—until a few years ago, when we unearthed it during a big sort-out. Last Christmas, I decided that now was the time to finally track down the missing pieces. I was determined to do it, even if it meant buying an entirely new set. This Backgammon set holds a lot of memories for us, tied to that wonderful trip to Denmark, and I wanted it to be used and enjoyed, not left gathering dust.
Carlsberg no longer sold the set, but I contacted them on the off chance. Unfortunately, their reply confirmed my fears: they didn’t have replacement pieces, nor did they have records of who had manufactured the set.
A little deflated but still determined, I turned to the internet, scouring Carlsberg memorabilia sites and Facebook groups. When that didn’t work, I decided to change tack and joined a Backgammon collectors’ group. I posted about my plight a few times to no avail, but a few months ago, I finally got a response.
A woman in the group mentioned that a friend of a friend had once worked for the company that produced the Carlsberg set. She put me in touch, and after a bit of attic searching, this kind soul managed to find a box of replacement chips—including ones for my exact set! She went out of her way to help me and even refused to let me reimburse her for the postage from Denmark.
Now, this set sits proudly in our games room. Over this Christmas period, I finally taught the boys how to play Backgammon, which is, without a doubt, my favorite classic game.
Backgammon Overview
If you’ve never played Backgammon, the game is played on a board divided into 24 narrow triangles called points. These are split into four quadrants, and each player’s home board and outer board face the other’s.
The aim of the game is to move all your checkers (or chips, as I’ve always called them) from your starting positions to your home board and then bear them off the board entirely. The first player to bear off all their checkers wins.
Each player starts with 15 chips, placed in a specific starting arrangement on the board and you use 2 dice.
Roll two dice and move your chips according to the numbers rolled. You can move one chip the full sum of both dice or split the numbers between two chips. But you can’t land on a point that has two or more opposing chips!
If a point has just one opposing chip, it’s venerable and if you land on it, you send that checker to the bar in the middle of the board. Your opponent must then re-enter it on your home board before moving any other chips.
Once all your chips are in your home board, you can start bearing them off—essentially rolling the dice to remove them.
It’s a perfect blend of luck and strategy, with plenty of room for skilful play. And once you’ve got the basics down, you’ll find yourself coming back to it again and again. For me, it’s a timeless classic and pretty much the only classic game that I think stands the test of time (my chess review i less favourable).
I think Backgammon is a fantastic abstract strategy game to play with kids and it definitely helps if you have a nice version.
it is also excellent to help with maths skills.
Would definitely recommend a Backgammon set 
