Editing Tables game (section)

=== Modern period ===
==== Europe ====
By the 17th century, table games had spread to [[Sweden]]. A wooden board and counters were recovered from the wreck of the [[Regalskeppet Vasa|''Vasa'']] among the belongings of the ship's officers. Tables games appear widely in paintings of this period, mainly those of Dutch and German painters, such as [[Adriaen van Ostade|Van Ostade]], [[Jan Steen]], [[Hieronymus Bosch]], and [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder|Bruegel]]. Some surviving artworks are [[Cardsharps (Caravaggio)|''Cardsharps'']] by [[Caravaggio]] (the tables board is in the lower left) and ''[[The Triumph of Death]]'' by [[Pieter Bruegel the Elder]] (the tables board is in the lower right). Others include [[Hell (Bosch)|''Hell'' (Bosch)]] and [[c:File:Jan Steen - The Interior of an Inn ('The Broken Eggs') NG NG NG5637.jpg|''Interior of an Inn'']] by Jan Steen.
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==== The rise of Backgammon ====
[[Image:Hoyle-backgammon.png|thumb|upright=0.95|right|''A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon'', by [[Edmond Hoyle]]]]
{{Main|Backgammon}}
The earliest known mention of Backgammon was in a letter dated 1635 and it was a variant of the popular mediaeval Anglo-Scottish game of [[Irish (game)|Irish]]. By the 19th century it had superseded other tables games in popularity and spread abroad to Europe and America. The scoring rules have changed over time and a doubling cube added that enables players to raise the stakes.

Backgammon's predecessor was the tables game of Irish, which was popular at the Scottish court of James IV and considered "the more serious and solid game" when Backgammon began to emerge in the first half of the 17th century.<ref>Howell (1635), Vol. 2, No. 68.</ref> In the 16th century, [[Elizabethan]] laws and church regulations had prohibited playing tables in England, but by the 18th century, tables games were on the rise again and Backgammon had superseded Irish and become popular among the English clergy.<ref name="murray"/> [[Edmond Hoyle]] published ''A Short Treatise on the Game of Back-Gammon'' in 1753; this described rules and strategy for the game and was bound together with a similar text on [[whist]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Allee|first=Sheila|url=http://www.utexas.edu/supportut/news_pub/yg_foreedge.html|title=A Foregone Conclusion: Fore-Edge Books Are Unique Additions to Ransom Collection|publisher=The University of Texas at Austin|access-date=2006-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060621093338/http://www.utexas.edu/supportut/news_pub/yg_foreedge.html|archive-date=2006-06-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In English, the word "backgammon" is most likely derived from "back" and {{langx|enm|gamen}}, meaning "game" or "play". The earliest mention of the game, which was under the name of ''Baggammon'', was by James Howell in a letter dated 1635.<ref>Howell (1650), p. 105.</ref>{{efn|The fact that this is the earliest mention is stated in Fiske (1905), p. 285.}}  Meanwhile, the first use documented by the [[Oxford English Dictionary]] was in 1650.<ref name="oed2">{{cite book|chapter=backgammon|title=The Oxford English Dictionary |edition=Second |url=http://dictionary.oed.com |year=1989|access-date=2006-08-05}}</ref> In 1666, it is reported that the "old name for backgammon used by Shakespeare and others" was Tables.<ref>Wheately (1666), p. 70.</ref>  However, it is clear from Willughby that "tables" was a generic name and that the phrase "playing at tables" was used in a similar way to "playing at cards".<ref name=Willughby>Willughby (c. 1660-1672), entries for "Cards", "Tables", "Irish" and "Back Gammon."</ref>[[File:The Backgammon Players - Theodoor Rombouts - Google Cultural Institute.jpg|thumb|''The Backgammon Players'' by [[Theodoor Rombouts]], 1634]]The most recent major development in backgammon was the addition of the doubling cube. It was first introduced in the 1920s in [[New York City]] among members of gaming clubs in the [[Lower East Side]].<ref name="robertie-501">{{cite book|last=Robertie|first=Bill|author-link=Bill Robertie|title=501 Essential Backgammon Problems|edition=Second Printing|year=2002|page=22|publisher=Cardoza|isbn=978-1-58042-019-8}}</ref> The cube required players not only to select the best move in a given position, but also to estimate the probability of winning from that position, transforming backgammon into the [[expected value]]-driven game played in the 20th and 21st centuries.<ref name="robertie-501" />
The popularity of backgammon surged in the mid-1960s, in part due to the charisma of [[Prince Alexis Obolensky]] who became known as "The Father of Modern Backgammon".<ref name="GAM">{{cite web|url=http://www.gammonlife.com/news/the_inventor_of_doubling_in_backgammon.htm|title=The Inventor of Doubling in Backgammon|website=www.gammonlife.com}}</ref> "Obe", as he was called by friends, co-founded the International Backgammon Association,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gammonvillage.com/backgammon/news/article_display.cfm?resourceid=937|title=The Father Of Modern Backgammon – GammonVillage Magazine|website=www.gammonvillage.com}}</ref> which published a set of official rules. He also established the World Backgammon Club of Manhattan, devised a backgammon tournament system in 1963, then organized the first major international backgammon tournament in March 1964, which attracted royalty, celebrities and the press. The game became a huge fad and was played on college campuses, in [[discothèques]] and at country clubs;<ref name="GAM" /> stockbrokers and bankers began playing at conservative men's clubs.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|title=Urge to Play Backgammon Sweeping Men's Clubs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/01/13/archives/an-old-old-game-gains-new-favor-urge-to-play-backgammon-sweeping.html?sq=Tim%2520Holland%2520backgammon&scp=14&st=cse|quote=A disk and dice game that has been played in Middle Eastern streets for thousands of years, in English homes for hundreds of years, and on Bronx stoops for dozens of years has suddenly gripped the bankers and brokers of old-line men's clubs all over town.|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 13, 1966|access-date=2010-09-10 }}</ref> People young and old all across the country dusted off their boards and "checkers". Cigarette, liquor and car companies began to sponsor tournaments, and [[Hugh Hefner]] held backgammon parties at the [[Playboy Mansion]].<ref name="PLAY65">{{cite web|url=http://www.play65.com/World-Backgammon-Championships-History.html|title=World Backgammon Championships History – Backgammon Masters – Backgammon Articles' Categories – Play65™|website=www.play65.com}}</ref> Backgammon clubs were formed and tournaments were held, resulting in a World Championship promoted in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] in 1967.<ref name="PLAY65" />

Most recently, the [[United States Backgammon Federation]] (USBGF) was organized in 2009 to re-popularize the game in the United States. Board and committee members include many of the top players, tournament directors and writers in the worldwide backgammon community. The USBGF has recently created a [http://usbgf.org/standards-of-ethical-practice/ Standards of Ethical Practice] to address issues which tournament rules fail to touch.