Sport: Backgammon

The Emperor Claudius wrote a book on the Roman form of the game. Domitian was an adept and Caligula a cheat. Its English name comes from the Saxon baec (back) and gamen (game)—a game in which the draughtsmen are liable to be sent back. For a long time it has been played on sidewalk tables in European restaurants, on steamers, in school common rooms, and in nurseries. In the U. S. it has gained new favor in the last year. Its vogue came mysteriously, quickly: boards, once relatively easy to get, came to be...

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