About Shesh Besh
G.S.
the Web, or in the rec.games.backgammon FAQ.
Shesh-Besh is the most popular game in all Middle East countries. It seems
to be of Turkish origin.
It is almost identical to backgammon, but without the doubling cube, and
with some additional small differences. These differences are worth
pointing out, because they make it a bit hard for us Middle Easterners to
play on-line, or use backgammon software (like gnubg). Oh, life is hard for
us anyway :-)
Here are the differences between Shesh Besh and backgammon, as far as I
know:
1) There is no doubling cube. It is not even sold with Shesh-Besh boards!
2) As in backgammon, each game you win counts as 1 point, and gammons
(“Mars”) as 2 points.
3) Winning a backgammon counts as 3 points. However, winning a 3-point
backgammon in Shesh-Besh is harder than in backgammon. It means that the
opponent hasn’t taken off any piece while you’ve taken off all of yours, but
also has at least one piece on the bar. This happens rarely, and is even
more rare that the usual backgammon in backgammon. This is called “Turkish
Mars”.
4) The following difference applies only to physical games, not to computer
renditions: There is only one set of dice, and it doesn't matter where they
are rolled, as long as they land flat on the board.
Other than that, it's identical to backgammon. Either money games or
matches (“up to X points”) are played, and they are played everywhere!
G.
Michael Crane
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"G.S." <g...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:bb2478$je8$1...@news2.netvision.net.il...
Simon Woodhead
> I was shocked to find that the Shesh Besh game is not described anywhere on
> the Web, or in the rec.games.backgammon FAQ.
Maybe that's why this group is called rec.games.backgammon
and not rec.games.sheshbesh ?
-Simon.
Back4U2 BBL
... the Greek variations of backgammon (Tavli) i.e. Portes, Plakoto,
Fuvga/Fuega and the Eastern Narde/Nardi and Nackgammon, hypergammon....
It seems to me that Shesh-Besh (6-5) suits well in the backgammon family.
When you looked at the rules, you noticed that playing a -2 -1 Crawford game
in a 'normal' backgammon match comes pretty close to that. The -2 player is
interested in a gammon (marce), but sure does not want to lose this game.
The -1 player can afford a loss, but can't afford being gammoned (and since
the chance being backgammoned [Turkish marce: still on the bar] is that slim
in Shesh-Besh, it can be ignored).
Especially if one thinks of backgammon as a recent 'variant' of those
ancient ancestors, I would say: 'Welcome Shesh-Besh'
Nardy