Doublets

This is a very old game of pure and was still being played in Iceland at the beginning of the twentieth century. There are references to playing "doublets" in Shakespeare and other literary sources throughout the centuries.

Setup: The players have twelve checkers each. The checkers are stacked in pairs on the six points in the opposite right-hand table.

To start: Each player rolls one die. As in backgammon, the player rolling the higher number goes first and then rolls both dice again to start his first turn.

Unstacking the piles: The first goal is for the players to unstack their checkers. To do so, players must roll the dice. The numbers that show on the dice are the point numbers to be unstacked. For example, if a player rolls 6-3, he must unstack the checkers in the 6-point and on the 3-point.

If a player rolls doubles, he only gets to unstack one pile, but he also gets to roll again. And should the player roll doubles again, he plays that number as before then rolls again, until he comes up with unmatched dice.

The game continues with the players taking turns as they unstuck their checkers. If a number is rolled corresponding to a point where checkers have already been unstacked, that part of the roll is lost.

Restacking the piles: When all of the players' piles have been unstacked in this manner they then begin restacking them. This works in the exact same way as the unstacking, by rolling the numbers corresponding to the points to be restacked.

Bearing off: Finally, when all of the players' piles have been restacked, they may begin bearing off. Again, the players must roll the numbers corresponding to the points to be borne off. The first player to bear off all of his or her checkers wins the game.

Note: Compared to backgammon this is an exceptionally simple game of pure chance, with no strategy used.