Chasing the Girls

This variation of the game of Backgammon dates back to the time of old Iceland. Back in those days "Chasing the Girls" was not only the name of the game, but was a pretty good description of what happened after a succesful attack upon peaceful villaes by Icelandic Vikings. Some sources put the origins of the game even farther back than that, and place it in the time when the Romans were creating the fist New World Order.

The game is easy enough to play. It begins with a setup where the players have just six checkers each. Opponents place their checkers on each point in the opposite right-hand table. Once they have been set the checkers move around the board in a counterclockwise direction. This will continue until one of the players is completely out of checkers.

To start the game each player will roll one die. This initial roll rewards underachieving and the person with the lowest number will go first. He now rolls both dice to begin his turn.

The only rolls that are played in this game are those rolls that result in doubles or contain a 1 or a 6. A roll of 6-6 is played twice, all other doubles may only be played once.

In most cases the player is not going to get doubles. Chances are they will have a mixed roll. When this is the case, any number besides 1 or 6 will be ignored. When a 1 or a 6 shows up, they are played as they would be played in proper Backgammon.

Only one checker may occupy a point. If the result of a roll is that another checker is brought to a point that is occupied by another checker of the same color, the checker may not occupy that space or displace the checker that was there before. It must be placed on the next available point.

This scenario changes a bit if a checker is moved on to a point that is occupied by an opponent's checker. Under that circumstance the opponent's checker is removed from the board.

When the situation arises that a player is only left with one, lonely checker, that checker is called the corner-rattler. The play for this last checker is different than how all the previous checkers had been played. A corner-rattler may only land on points numbered 1, 6, 7, and 12. Also, a roll of one moves the corner-rattler ahead to the next corner point, but a roll of 6 moves it up two corner points. If the player rolls a 1-1 or a 6-6, the corner-rattler is moved ahead two corners or four corners. If any other double is rolled, the player gets to roll again. A corner-rattler is immune from attack if it is sitting between two enemy checkers. And if both opponents are reduced to corner-rattlers, there will probably be a long chase before anyone is declared the winner.