BACKGAMMON

A game played with dice by two persons on a table divided into two parts, upon which there are 12 black and as many white spaces, called points. Each player has 15 men, black and white, to distinguisft them. This game is of Welch origin, and is said to have been invented in the period preceding the Conquest. {Glo , ad Leges Wallic., cited by Henry, vol. iv. p. 404.) Backgammon can only be learned by observation and practice; and though much depends on chance, still great skill may be displayed in the course of the game. Hoyle, the received oracle in these matters, has evinced great accuracy in calculating the odds of backgammon, and has embodied a variety of rules and instructions respecting it, which must prove of great service to every player. [s. 127]