I looked around.

I surfed the net.

I looked at books.

And then I went to Play65.

Bingo.

Or, should I say, gammon.

Go there. The site contains vast amounts of informaion regarding backgammon, a backgammon school and different modes of play, which allow you to practice your skill against thousands of players from all over the world.

But don’t take my word for it.

Check it out.

And report back to the thousands of folks who read this posting every week.

Including beginners.

Play backgammon. This month, the Millennium Hotel Abu Dhabi will offer a lavish Iftar buffet complete with Ramadan juices for only AED135 per person for adults and AED75 for children between 6 and 12.

And while you’re waiting, enjoy a shisha with a game of chess or backgammon in the Layali Al Alfeya tent in Marakesh restaurant, open from 20:00 until Suhoor.

An Oudh player will entertain with traditional sounds of Arabia, and the a la carte menu offers oriental and authentic Ramadan food.

Sounds wonderful.

So, all of our Muslim friends, traveling to Abu Dhabi, here is a chance to not just worship but to also have some gaming fun on the side.

After all, backgammon, we know, is one of the most popular games in the mideast.

Enjoy.

His name is – Steve Schreiber, of New York. Google him and go to his page.

You rock, man.

He put together a project called GARDEN GAMMON.

And he deserves all the credit for this page.

Below are his descriptions.  

Now, from his own posting: “I built an outdoor backgammon court in

my backyard and call the game “Garden-Gammon.” It’s 12 foot x 12 foot playfield. The points and surface are three different colors 

of gravel. The checkers are Frisbees. I found 4 inch foam dice

here on the Internet:http://www.presentationresources.net/dice.html

And we use two 5 gallon buckets as the dice cups (one blue and one white).

The doubling cube was constructed out of a square cardboard box. Check out the attached pictures. In the first match, my wife jumped out 

to a 2-0 lead, but I rallied to win 3-2. It’s really a fun way to

play backgammon. And a chouette would be a real party! The inspiration for this came from a trip we took to 

Switzerland in April. We were wandering around Zurich, a

nd came across a group of people playing chess in Zurich, on this large outdoor chess board: My wife made the leap to doing the same for a backgammon court, 

and I couldn’t resist. It took me about 30 hours of work

over several weekends but it was well worth it. So if you’re a backgammon aficionado, think about beautifying your yard 

with Garden-Gammon. It’s a great conversation starter and gives

a whole new meaning to phrases like “Big Doubles” or “Huge Blunder.”

Like how to win playing blackjack…yes, I am am an amateur card counter.

So…as an active BG player, I was wondering what most BG players are reading. I did some research.

Here’s what I found out.

Classic Backgammon Revisited is one book several top players recommend.

Ever wonder why this was called as such? The title signifies the main aim of the book, and that is to revisit some of old vital reading materials that were written about the subject of backgammon.

In the book, the author made use of sample backgammon problems.

Each sample backgammon problem was given an equivalent drawing to make the explanation a lot easier. The way by which the author explained his perspectives on each sample problem is eloquent, fit for the more advanced backgammon players. Beginners would find it harder to fully grasp some concepts.

Because of the style of this book, many experts on backgammon recommend this to more experienced backgammon players out there. However, some players  hope that another version of this book will be released, one that is designed for beginners.

Alpha Backgammon is another good one. This is easy to understand.

Unlike the Classic Backgammon Revisited, this one is written in a simpler language.

Thus, players who are just starting to learn the basics of backgammon will appreciate this better. This book makes use of drawings to help the author in explaining backgammon techniques to enthusiasts. The drawings were vital because without them, it would be far more difficult to understand fully what was being said.

A good thing about this book is that it is partitioned in such a way that next one is for more advanced skills than the last one. It simply creates the illusion of guiding the backgammon players step by step.

[It does get a bit weird when the author starts talking about ESP]

Check it out.

The following celebrities have reported to be keen backgammon players: Note, obviously, some of these celebrities, such as Groucho Marx are dead.

• Alan Rosenberg – Actor
• Brian May – Musician
• Don Adams – Actor (‘Get Smart’ fame)
• Groucho Marx – Actor
• Hugh Hefner – Publisher, Playboy
• Izabella Scorupco – Actress (Bond Girl)
• Joan Crawford – Actress
• Joaquin Phoenix – Actor
• John Huston – Director
• Kate Winslet – Actress
• Ken Caminiti – Baseball player
• Kevin Bacon – Actor
• Kylie Minogue – Performer
• Lewis Carroll – Writer
• Lucille Ball – Actress
• Madonna – Performer
• Nicole Kidman – Actress
• Omar Sharif – Actor
• Queen Margrethe II – Danish Royal Family
• Robbie Williams – Performer
• Robert Montgomery – Actor
• Roger Clemens – Baseball player
• Stefanie Powers – Actress
• Ted Turner – Media Mogul
• Thomas Jefferson – US President
• Tim Henman – Tennis player
• Tobey Macguire – Actor

There. How about that? Do you know of anyone else to add to the list?