Introduction to the 2014 Ides of March Cambridge Invitational Tournament

The history of backgammon as a social and intellectual pastime is littered with innovations, and yet in the 21st century, we tend to think that there are only three standard formats of the game -- heads-up cash games, matches, and chouette -- and that these forms are set in stone and unlikely to evolve or be surpassed. Some Western backgammon players feel that all other forms of the game are distinctly inferior and not worthy of serious study. In reality, backgammon (even with its fixed checker play rules since the 18th century) is amenable to an infinite number of variants, many of which have a special social or intellectual appeal such as the Middle Eastern practice of five point cubeless matches or the 1950s practice of cubeful match play without the Crawford rule, etc…