7 Reasons to Teach Your Children Backgammon

[Simborg]

1. Backgammon is a great way to teach math to kids. They start out learning how to add the dice together, then how to count pips, and as they get older they learn why there are more ways to roll a 6 than a 1, and eventually, it can get very complex. It makes math real and fun.

2. Your children will learn about luck, and about how to handle good and bad luck. It's a great lesson for life. It's a great way for kids to learn to become good sports and to take winning and losing in stride.

3. Learning to play a complicated adult game gives kids confidence. It gives them something to feel proud of and special about.

4. The backgammon community provides a great way for kids to interact with adults on an equal basis. Bring kids to tournaments and the rules and play are the same for them as for adults.

5. Backgammon gives kids something they can share with their parents. It is a way you can do things together, play together, play on line together, go to live tournaments together.

6. Backgammon is a hobby kids can enjoy virtually an time on the computer. And it is a far better pasttime than many of the things kids do on the computer (or watching TV).

7. Lastly, Backgammon is a skill that the child can use and enjoy the rest of his life. There are many activities and skills kids are learning that they will never use when they get older. If they get an early start in backgammon, chances are they will be pretty good players when adults, and they will enjoy it the rest of their lives.


Objections: Some people object to involving kids in Backgammon because it exposes them to gambling. You are naive if you don't see the many, many ways children are exposed to gambling through lottery, poker on TV, sports, etc. You can show them why Backgammon is fun just for the pure intellectual strategies.


And let's not forget what Ann Leibowitz said about playing with kids: "I love to play with kids--they're easy to cheat and fun to beat!"

[puzzle_t0rico]

Hi
I find great any game where the strategy and reflexion are important parts of the game and I am relly addict to this game although I am not a good player.
The luck part of the game makes it really different and unique.
I am about to have a little girl (early august) and I know since 3 years ago that I am going to learn her to play backgammon as soon as I can be confident she will not eat the checkers Wink because this game will develop her brain for maths and life (strategy, keep her calm on tough situations, accept the defeats and not be arrogant when winning, give the best of her...) and also she will be very happy to win her father (as her mother does currently when we do not use the doubling cube)
Though I do not agree at all with the last sentence in your post.
I am really shocked.
That is the WORST reason someone could give to play backgammon.
Yo can not treat the children like that!!! I find it really disgusting.
I find that it s very cruel and unfair and it shows a poor personality if you need cheating to win against a child, specially if your level is "Master"
It also shows that the adult player does not accept the points listed before: accept bad luck and handle it with grace. And this adds another point to the people that do not want to show backgammon to their children because they can associate very easily to cheating.

I love playing with children because they play better with an adult than with a child and it is great to see them thinking about the position and making better moves than our owns.
They do not have nothing to lose. It they win, they are the happiest people in the world, they have won an adult at an adult game!!! If they lose, it does not matter because it is pretty normal to lose against an adult, so no stress or tears.
Honestly, do not cheat against children. Cheating is the best way to show them the "dark" side.
_________________
If the brain were simple enough to be understood, we would be too stupid to understand it.

[Simborg]

I run and promote children's tournaments and give free lessons to children. I certainly do not advocate cheating of any kind, and I am sure the only reason someone might take the last sentence of my article seriously is due to a language barrier. It is a quote that someone else said, and it was meant entirely in humor. It was a joke.

Humor is subjective, of course, and when different languages are involved, it is a risk that it would be misunderstood.

Thank you for your comments.

[puzzle_t0rico]

Hi Simborg

Excuse me if my post was too hard. I do not want to be banned or tagged as a crazy person that goes angry without any reason or even worse, break the possibility of a friendship in a far future.

Before your answer I already knew that you do not agree with cheating (I did not know that you invest all that time on teaching them) and I understood that the sentence is in a joke meaning when coming from you but this sentence is not yours and I do not know how it was said and if it is ironic or if the person was really joking.
Anyhow, this is not a place to argue and the important part of the post is the seven points which I totally agree.
Though, I also recognize that, sometimes, when the kids are little enough or have just learnt how to play, I also cheat when playing with them just to let them win. I make bad or very bad moves. It is wonderful when they smile and hold their arms as a victory sign. But once thay have reached a good level... I forget they are 7, 10 or 14. The game is on!! And they still beat me
_________________
If the brain were simple enough to be understood, we would be too stupid to understand it.