Backgammon is one of the oldest of dice games. The name originates from the Anglo-Saxon bac (back) and gamen (game), and is so called because some pieces are (in certain circumstances) taken up and sent back to re-enter at the player's start table.

The game was familiar to the Romans, who called it Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum (literally the "Twelve-lined Game", there being 12 wedges set in 2 lines on each side of the board). Roman legionnaires are said to have learned it from the Greeks. It was played in England in the 14th Century under the name of "Tables" (a term still used to describe the four inner/outer tables of the board), and was mentioned by Chaucer. Hoyle's codification of the laws and strategy of Backgammon (1743) is still largely in force.

Backgammon is essentially a gambling game (although it can equally be enjoyed without the involvement of monetary stakes). Gambling with dice was very popular among the ancient Greeks and Romans, and remained fashionable in many forms ("Crown and Anchor" for example) throughout Europe up to and including the 19th Century, when all gambling with dice began to decline in favour of card games and horse racing.

Nevertheless Backgammon has retained a strong following worldwide, and nowadays there are many clubs and national Backgammon Associations existing in support of the game. There is also a WorldWideWeb Backgammon Page (accessible via several mirror sites around the globe) which is dedicated to contacts, links, tournament news, internet matches, books etc