I sure wouldn’t! I would like to think that I am good enough to be able to put my life at stake but I still really am not inclined to make a bet on that. Apparently, some people do – at least that is what the newspapers reported in late November. According to the reporters, two men in Moscow met each other and agreed to share a cab. One of the men invited the other to his flat, they got to playing backgammon, and the winner ended up killing the loser. Just how did this happen? The reports narrate:

The story began when Smirnitsky and his victim-to-be, 23-year-old Vasily Lobozov, agreed to share a taxi.

During the ride, Smirnitsky invited his new acquaintance to come to his flat, and Lobozov agreed.
Upon their arrival, Lobozov noticed and remarked upon a backgammon set sitting on the shelf.

“I made that in the labor camp,” said Smirnitsky, who had earlier served time for robbery. “It took me years.”

“Shall we play a game?” his guest replied.

Smirnitsky, who was reportedly in a dark mood following the recent death of his brother, then informed his guest that, “With that backgammon set you can only play for dough.”

When Lobozov replied that he had no money, his host answered: “Then stake your life.”

To be fair to Lobozov – the victim – no one would really take that kind of stake seriously these days, right? Then again, he should have had more sense than to do that with a stranger.

Anyhow, just one of those bizarre stories we read in the tabloids every now and then. Moral of the story: don’t put your life at stake…

Only in Russia.

Some people take backgammon way too seriously.   Read this news story about a guy in Russia who staked his life on a game of backgammon.  Unfortunately, he lost both the game and his life.

The person who won the game and did the murder is named Smirnitsky, and when he was arrested he said to the police the following:

“Boss, judge for yourself, how could I do otherwise?” Smirnitsky later reportedly told police. “My word is my word.”

The story reminds me of a scene in “A Hero of Our Time” written by the Russian author Lermontov, in which the main character Pechorin is challenged to a rigged dual by the character Gruzhinsky.

I guess the moral of the story is never play backgammon for stakes you cannot afford to lose.