Backgammon Games for Young Beginners
The backgammon game may be too complicated for young children; still there are few games that simplify backgammon game play for the benefit of the next generation. Here are the most recommended backgammon games for kids:The Blocking Game
The Blocking Game is a Middle Eastern backgammon variation that played without the doubling cube and with no hitting, thus offers an easier start for the young backgammon beginners. The Blocking Game begins with each player's checkers placed off the board. The players enter their checkers first to the opponents' home boards according to the dice roll and then move them around the board to the players' home boards.
When a player enters one checker to a point, he is said to own the point, i.e. the point is untouchable as far as the opponent is concerned. But when there are two or more checkers on a point, an opponent can add his own; in the latter case, the "last in – first out" applies, which means that the once a player adds his checkers to the opponent's checkers, the opponent has to wait for the player to move his checkers before moving his own. The bearoff takes place the same as in grownup backgammon.
Blocking Express
Blocking Express is played like The Blocking Game with a twist that puts a greater emphasize on luck. In this backgammon variation, every time a player rolls a double, he plays the rolled double as well as all the higher doubles. So, when a player rolls 5s he plays this double (as in backgammon, doubles are played twice), and then 6s, etc. If playing legal moves with the doubles above is impossible, then the turn is moved to the opponent who plays the unused doubles.
Blast Off
Blast Off is also a backgammon variation based almost purely on luck. The board setup is similar to regular backgammon except that the two checkers ordinarily placed on the 1st point are here added to the five checkers on the players' midpoints. There is no hitting in Blast Off, rather than that the game is played as regular backgammon, until the first player finishes bearing off all of his 15 checkers, with the absence of the doubling cube.
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