Backgammon?

I play games a lot now I’m old. The iPad is wonderfully convenient. When I was young I played with my children every time we had a wet weekend. Board games were quickly replaced by chess or backgammon, something that required thought.
My first husband had been an Oxford blue in chess and after he’d taken over the games , my son quickly became very good indeed. This was a surprise when I pointed it out to the teacher intent on telling me that he was backward and might have to go to a special school.
"So how do you account for the fact that he plays chess for the town team? "
It was a wonderful moment and one I still cherish.
I never picked chess up really well but I became good enough at backgammon to hold my own... so now, lacking my off spring and anyone else in the house to play with I spend time polishing my backgammon skills at the weekend .
It hasn’t taken long to recognise a special category.....
On Saturday afternoons the unskilled and reckless appear.
Knocking off their opponents pieces what ever the state of the board is the object..I have seen some very weird moves on a Saturday. If by taking out one of your opponents pieces you leave yourself open to total disaster it seems...unwise but that doesn’t stop them.
We are shown a photograph of our opponent, a name and a flag denoting nationality. No conversation is possible beyond the absolute basics.
I used to play on Fibs ( first internet backgammon) It taught me enough to cope with most things but now I play on the version available via Facebook.
It keeps my hand and eye in...except on daft Saturday afternoons when the buccaneers are out!
So be it!


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