Greek Tavli Variations for Backgammon Fans

If you're interested in backgammon you may be interested to know that several different varieties of backgammon exist and are played in different parts of the world. One of these is known as Tavli.

Tavli is a Greek version of backgammon and gets its name from the Greek word for "board". Three separate games make up Tavli, all offering different rules and sequences of play. However, all three are usually played in sets where players compete in order to win the best of three, five or seven games.

The first version of the game is known as Portes, which bears the most similarities to backgammon as it is commonly played in the western world. Players begin a game of Portes with checkers set up identically to those in a game of regular backgammon. However, players do not use a doubling cube for Portes meaning the game is played for fun rather than money. There is also no backgammon. Instead two points constitute a gammon and a normal win receives one point.

A second Tavli variation is known as Plakoto. The starting point of all checkers in a game of Plakoto deviates from the standard backgammon set up. A player must place his checkers on his opponent's one point to begin the game and then move them around the board to his home area to bear off. There is also no "hitting" of blots in Plakoto. Instead, if you trap your opponent's checker on a space it must remain there until you choose to remove your checker. This creates an interesting new twist on the game of backgammon. If your mother checker (the last checker on your starting point) is trapped by your opponent, you automatically lose the game along with two points.

The third Tavli variation known as Fevga also requires players to begin the game with all their checkers on one point on the board. Beginning on point in the right place, their date of each player must move his 15 pieces on a board and bear them down to just the area of safety in his home board. One important rule is that in your first Fevga examiners must pass the stones where the other opponent has started before you move all your. How Plakoto is not a pawn in the game and hit just to point to dominate. Plakoto strategy differs from the normalBackgammon as the player is not allowed to build an initial period of six consecutive points. If your opponent is stuck behind your first, you are required to move a piece that play.

the rules are different for each variation Tavli, there are some common points during the game should remember if you are interested in trying. Tavli All games use a set of dice and players must decide who is the first train through the nuts to a large number. The firstplayer must then roll the dice again to take his turn. One point is awarded to the first player who successfully bears all his checkers off the board. All Tavli variations rely on the enjoyment of the game alone, therefore no doubling cube is used for gambling purposes.

What Does a Newborn Need? - Baby Gift Registry Checker

Gift registries save time, money and provide parents with exactly what they need to set up for a new baby. You will get all the items you need and want for your new baby and nursery and your friends and relatives will be a happy as they will be giving you something that you will love and use.

It can be daunting trying to work out what to put on the registry. Below is a Baby Gift Registry Checker to ensure you include everything on the list that you will need. Make sure you include items that will be used not only from birth but those that are good from 6 to 12 months.

Baby Gift Registry Checker

Clothing

 Ask for a variety of sizes up to size 1

 Singlets and body suits

 Jumpsuits

 Leggings

 Bibs

 Wraps, cotton or muslin

 Jackets

 Tops and pants

 Sun Hats in various sizes

 Socks

 Mittens

Diapers

 Diaper bin with secure lid

 Change table

 10 square cloth diapers for clean ups

Sleeping Items

 New firm mattress

 3 fitted bassinet sheets

 3 fitted cot sheets

 Bassinet

 Cot

 2 Mattress protectors

 Lightweight blankets

 Sleeping bag or gro bag to be used from 5 months

Bath time

 Wash cloths

 2 soft towels

 Blunt ended scissors

 Baby bath seat to use once baby is sitting

 Bath toys

 Thermometer

 Non slip bath mat

 Baby bath with stand (optional)

 Baby hair brush

Feeding

 Portable high chair

 Cutlery set

 Plate and bowl set

 Sipper cups

 Breast Pump

 Set of bottles and teats

 Bottle brush

 Sterilizer

 Bottle warmer

 Comfortable chair to feed in

 High chair

Out and About

 Car seat

 Sun cover for rear car window

 Sling or front-pack

 Pram

 Cotton or sheepskin insert for pram

 Fleece sleeping bag for pram

 Sun cover for pram

 Nappy bag to use when out

Nursery

 Pictures for wall

 Growth chart

 Peel and stick wall art

Play Time

 Cloth books

 Bath books

 Board Books

 Hanging mobiles with contrasting colors

 Rattle

 Activity Play mat

 Hanging pram toys

 Soft ball

 Toy Mirror

 Pop up toys

 Blocks

 Stacking cups

 Noise making toys

 Nursery Rhymes and children's music

Baby Safety

 Child proof locks for cupboards

 Barrier gate

 Covers for power points

Choosing Get Well Gifts For Kids

If a child is sick, you want to make him as comfortable as you can. Giving flowers and get well cards is okay, but children will not appreciate them as much as adults. For children, you might want to give presents that they will enjoy even in their present condition. In choosing get well gifts for kids, you should choose something that is not too complicated or difficult to do that will only worsen their condition. Give something that is fun, enjoyable, and easy to use that even a sick child can enjoy. If you need help, below are some ideas for get well gifts for kids.

o For young girls, they would have fun playing with paper dolls even though they are sick. It is not difficult to play with paper dolls. They can play with them even while lying on their bed. You can buy one whole book of paper dolls. Choose something with many different clothes. The young girl will appreciate it better if the clothes resemble her own usual attire such as a cheerleader's outfit, a ballerina's tutu, or a softball player's uniform.

o Another great gift for a sick child is a set of coloring book, crayons or paint, and stickers. The child does not need to exert an effort coloring the pages of the book. To make it even more fun, you should include stickers that the child can stick on the book or in other places. Choose a coloring book that the child will enjoy. If the youngster loves Disney Princess or Justice League, you should choose coloring books with these drawings. In choosing crayons or paints, make sure that they are non-toxic, or you will end up worsening the child's condition.

o You can also give board games to a child who is not feeling well. Classic board games such as Snakes and Ladders, Checkers, and other popular board games will surely give the child something to do while he is staying at home or in the hospital. However, they need someone to play with if you give them board games. You can tell the parents that you have given the child a board game. Better yet, you can always visit the sick child and play with him if you have lots of free time.

o Drawing or doodle board is also a fun toy to give to a youngster who is not feeling well. They can enjoy drawing or doodling different kinds of pictures. This is especially a great gift for children who are inclined to the arts. You can give an Etch-a-Sketch or a drawing book or pad.

o Sick children will also enjoy putting together a puzzle. Mini puzzles with their favorite cartoon character are great get well gifts for kids. However, do not choose a jigsaw puzzle with 1,000 pieces unless you want to give more headaches to the child.

There are so many get well gifts for kids out there, especially if you go to toy stores or if you visit toy websites. Choose presents that the child will enjoy and will keep them occupied while inside their house or the hospital.

Benefits That Playing Board Games Hold For Children

Child psychologists have recently begun to acknowledge the importance that board games have on the child's development. Research shows that board games which were actually meant to be a pass time are actually healthy, nurturing the brain's motor functions. Perhaps most board games do not include much educational content, however, it is in the manner of play that helps the child develop certain parts of the brain.

As an added value, playing these games provide for a safe and sound family activity everyone can enjoy. There are other family activities such as going to the mall, to the movies or shopping that bring the family together. However, board games seem to have that special ingredient to spice up the moments. Since the group gathers for fun and games, children are clueless about the fact that they will incur in any kind of educational activity. That makes it so much easier to entice the child into getting involved in these kinds of exercises.

The benefits of playing board games include several aspects of a developing child. He will learn to improve his social skills, becoming aware of others around him and learning to interact. A simple game of cube or a puzzle requires the child to exercise his problem solving skills. Something doctors also recommend for children with short term memory problems. The child is required to take turns, thus practicing patience and proper social behavior. In situations where the group needs to decide who goes first, they learn about the decision making process.

Another very important lesson children will learn from playing board games is the use of fair play. An uneducated child is prone to cut corners and slide a lie or two in order to finish the game as a winner. Great responsibility falls on the adults to teach them otherwise. The way they assimilate this lesson at the early stage of life, most certainly its consequences in adulthood.

Most board games for children the chance to make a roll of the dice determines the winner. The children are very serious about their games and will be very happy if they win and sad if it should happen to lose. E 'at this point where the proper adult guidance is imperative for the staff of his experience of playing with real situations. Teach the childto deal with winning is not all that difficult, yet important. One should use the winning occasions to better talk about the less fortunate ones.

Some games implement the use of math and problem solving skills. Equate for example, a word version of scrabble, requires kids to use their math skills in order to win the game. Games like Upwords and Balderdash help kids improve spelling and increase their vocabulary. Cueldo, on the other hand requires sleuthing and problem solving skills. There are many other examples of games which end up being an investment in your child's development rather than an expense. What better way to learn than by having fun!

Ancient Backgammon History - A Game With A Rich Past

Backgammon is the oldest known board game in the world. It has a history dating back nearly 5,000 years into the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia, where the original concept of the Backgammon game was established. Throughout the millennium, Backgammon has not only survived, but thrived. Today, Backgammon remains one of the most popular games in the world, played by fans from all corners of the Earth. Through the power of the internet, online Backgammon has allowed anyone with an internet connection to learn how to play Backgammon. To understand how Backgammon evolved from its early roots as an upper-class game of ancient civilizations to the commonly played Backgammon software we are familiar with today, let's take a look at the ancient history of this legendary game.

The first of what is generally considered the family of Backgammon archetypes is known as the Royal Game of Ur. The game originated in ancient Mesopotamia, which is today the area of Iraq and Iran, as early as 3,000 BC. In the tombs of Ur al Chaldees, several wooden playing boards and dice were discovered. They are believed to be the oldest remnants of a game that would eventually produce today's Backgammon. Similar to the Royal Game of Ur is the ancient Egyptian game Senat.

After these civilizations collapsed, an even closer ancestor of today's Backgammon called Ludus Duodicem Scriptorum ("The Game with 12 Lines") arose in the Roman Empire. Like Egyptian Senat, this game also used 30 markers, 15 carved from ebony and 15 from ivory. Originally, this game was played on a board of three rows of 12 points each; by the 1st century AD, the board had been modified to two rows of 12 points each, bringing it closer to the Backgammon board game in use today.

Tabula is the next known version of the game, supposedly played by Rome's Emperor Claudius, who wrote a now lost guide to the game in 50 AD. The game was extremely popular before being prohibited by the Empire in an attempt to control widespread Backgammon gambling. Tabula play is recorded in the annals of the Byzantine Emperor Zeno as being a game that included the present-day Backgammon strategy of bearing off checkers.

From here, Backgammon spread to Asia, including India, China and Japan, as the Persian game Nard, which is how Persian Backgammon is still known in Persia today. It is believed that the Nard version of the game is responsible for inspiring a symbolic and poetic explanation of the Backgammon set up which reveals that the game is designed to represent the natural cycle of time where the Backgammon board stands for one year. The 12 points on each side of the board represents the 12 months of the year; the 30 checkers are the 30 days in the month. The total number of points is 24, symbolizing the hours of the day, and the 15 light and 15 dark checkers are day and night.

How to Create a New Pencil and Paper Game

Creating a new pencil and paper game is easier if you use an existing game as a starting point. Take for example Tic Tac Toe.

Tic Tac Toe is played on a 3-by-3 grid of squares formed by drawing two horizontal lines across two vertical lines. Two players take turns playing, each drawing a symbol on an empty square on his or her turn. One player draws an 'X', and the other player draws an 'O'. The 'X' player moves first.

The game is won by the first player to get three symbols in a row, called 'tic-tac-toe'. If neither player gets three in a row, the game ends in a draw.

Children play Tic Tac Toe until they discover simple strategies that lead two experienced players to constantly play to a draw. Then they move on to other games.

One of the problems with the standard game of Tic Tac Toe is the existence of a center square through which half of the possible tic-tac-toes can go. Another problem is that the starting player has an unfair first-move advantage.

So take the 3-by-3 grid, and expand it to a 4-by-4 grid. This eliminates the center square.

Then to take some of the first-move advantage away from the 'X' player, play the game on a 4-by-4 grid located somewhere within a 7-by-7 grid. (Draw six horizontal lines over six vertical lines.) The location of the smaller grid is determined by the placement of the 'X's and 'O's by the two players.

The 'X' player starts by drawing an 'X' in the center square of the 7-by-7 grid. Then the 'O' player draws an 'O' in any empty square. The two players continue taking turns drawing symbols, but they must play within a 4-by-4 grid defined by their previous moves.

Neither player can draw a symbol in a square that would make the area in which they are playing more than four squares wide, or more than four squares high. And at the end of the game, the 16 squares in a 4-by-4 grid will be filled.

The players then each look for tic-tac-toes within that 4-by-4 grid. Four symbols in a row count as two tic-tac-toes. The player with the most tic-tac-toes wins the game.

To conserve paper, this game can be converted to a board game played on a checkerboard.

The 'X' player uses the dark checkers and the 'O' player uses the light checkers. The 'X' player starts by placing a dark checker on one of the four squares at the center of the checkerboard. The rest of the rules are the same as the pencil and paper game.

You can change the rules to make variations of the game. You can allow each player to move one of her or his checkers before a turn once during a game. Or you can allow two tic-tac-toes that share a checker to score an extra point. Or you can require that each checker played is adjacent to a previously played checker horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Or the player with the least tic-tac-toes wins the game.

Copyright (c) 2009 - Paul Hoemke. All Rights Reserved.

Becoming Competitive at Board and Card Games - Studying the Game

To learn a game requires resources and effort. Resources are equipment, books, software, and people. Effort is time, energy, and money spent on the game.

Equipment is necessary to play the game. You would need the actual game to be played. Also important are a travel edition, a handheld electronic version, a computer software to play against, an Internet site to play against other people online, and a membership to the national organization of the game to play in tournaments or in officially rated games.

Books needed are ones to study to learn the basics of the game, and theory to study. There are puzzle books, software, and websites to help you train.

Software comes in three types: playing, analysis, database, and training. Playing software you play against and should be at your level of skill. Analysis software analyzes your games and should be at the highest level possible. Unfortunately analysis software won't explain why moves are better or worse. Database software collects your recorded games and games of others, so you can replay and analyze them. Training software is made to teach and train you to increase your playing level. It is best to have all four kinds of software. Getting the best software of each kind is ideal.

People are essential in your training to get better. You can learn bad habits by playing only computer opponents. People can be your teacher, be your same skill-level opponent, talk with you about the game in general, and be your opponents in tournaments.

Effort is key in studying and becoming good at a game. Without time and energy to place into studying, you cannot become better because you will only stay at the same skill level without it. Money, unfortunately, is necessary to spend for quality books, software, and teaching. Technically you can learn by yourself, but it can take ten to a hundred times longer or more. Books can tell you something in fifteen minutes something you might not realize in a year.

Hopefully, you have come to a better understanding of how to learn board and card games in general. These guidelines work for many games including chess, backgammon, and poker. Happy gaming!