On-Line Backgammon Games

May 8, 2021 9:59 PM

I am a caretaker for a gregarious, witty 87 yo man who loves to play backgammon. I don't play and I see him playing backgammon alone on his PC. On there any on-line site where he can play live with other backgammon lovers?
posted by goalyeehah to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Best answer: I hope this is not too obnoxious a non-answer, but, in case you were thinking it'd be too hard to be able to play with him, it maybe takes half an hour to learn to play and you can get on top of the major strategic points in a few hours. Especially given the role of chance, unless your client is a serious tournament player, you can probably enjoy reasonably competitive matches pretty quickly.
posted by praemunire at 11:56 PM on May 8, 2021 [10 favorites]

Both cardgames.io and boardgame arena have multiplayer backgammon. You can both play with people you know and random challengers.
posted by Carillon at 12:34 AM on May 9, 2021 [2 favorites]

http://simplyBG.com is a site dedicated to multiplayer online backgammon. not sure how it compares to alternatives, i used it a couple of times to play with a relative. some free to play options but the site wants you to sign up as a paid member.
posted by are-coral-made at 3:45 AM on May 9, 2021

Best answer: Building on the non-answer, I bet you would make that man very happy by asking him to teach you. It's not hard. I'm terrible at games and my dad taught me in about an hour when I was ten.
posted by HotToddy at 8:55 AM on May 9, 2021 [10 favorites]

FIBS has been around forever and there are a lot of PC clients that hook into it, but it's kind of creaky. Here are the recommendations from the UKBGF which include more modern platforms. The challenge is to find somewhere that provides good matches between users and also isn't tied in with broader gambling stuff.

Anyway, it's easy to learn and fun to play and you can practice in your own time with gnubg (which will suggest moves and show probabilities) and the dice hate you.
posted by holgate at 10:19 AM on May 9, 2021

Best answer: As a life-long backgammon player myself, yes, ask him to teach you! It's seriously one of the easiest games to learn, and as a little kid the degree of chance meant I'd beat my parents regularly enough that I never got discouraged.
posted by coffeecat at 11:42 AM on May 9, 2021 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks, gang. Began playing with him today
posted by goalyeehah at 4:17 PM on May 10, 2021 [5 favorites]