How much are you willing to pay to play online backgammon incognito, without dragging your reputation (if you have any) and the number that represents your level of skill, i.e. the rating points? 

Play65 newly launched dark room allows you to play online backgammon anonymously; instead of your famous or infamous username, a uniform "anonymous" will appear on the players’ names columns and the only exposed details would be the desired stake and limit, the game’s length, speed and score. Neither your rating points nor a flag that represents your homeland will be revealed. 

• It reduces the rakes, since no commission is taken for the differences in rating points
• It shortens the time it takes to select a game partner – you choose your opponent based on his/her suggested stake and limits.
• You can play against world famous backgammon players without even knowing who they are…

The upcoming US presidential election is a good opportunity to recall the times when the White House was hosting large scaled backgammon tournaments. Here’s a little priceless backgammon quiz for you: which past US president had the hots for backgammon? And the answer is George P. Bush. Not the reigning W, but his old man, who is so obsessed with backgammon that his favorite book is Bruce Becker’s Backgammon for Blood (a cult backgammon book from the 1970s).   

This fascinating inside information came from the mouth of the George and Barbara Bush’s grandson, the son of Jeb Bush, in a 2006 interview for Men’s Vogue. He also talked about a single elimination backgammon tournament for 64 players, conducted by the former first lady a year earlier and mentioned that the secret of how to play backgammon is one of the most important legacies passed from generation to generation in the Bush family.   

Play65 is celebrating its 20th backgammon quiz this week with an especially challenging backgammon question: which famous magazine published a backgammon book by Lewis Deyong in 1977? Was it Life, Vanity Fair, Playboy or Lifestyles? If you know the answer, submit it and maybe you’ll get to be Play65 20th quiz winner!

And now to last week’s 19th backgammon quiz. The James Bond movie in which a backgammon game has been played is Octopussy, in which Roger Moore as the charming secret agent, plays backgammon against a wealthy Afghan prince, Kamal Khan (played by Louis Jourdan), and wins, evidently.

Backgammon in Italy

The James Bond/backgammon fan who knew the correct answer to last week’s backgammon question, came from Italy, and with less then 6 months experience on play65, he was awarded with a $20 bonus.

Backgammon, or Tavole Reale, is apparently pretty popular in Italy, maybe due to their Roman roots, who brought the world "Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum" (the game of 12 lines, named after the game board), and "Tabula", which is believed to be the backgammon ancestor mostly similar to modern backgammon.

There are several backgammon clubs in Italy, and the country hosts at least one prestigious backgammon event – the city of Venice international backgammon tournament. And fans of backgammon of Italy can always play on Play65 Italian website…

So who is the well known backgammon expert who won four World Poker Tour titles on last week’s backgammon quiz? The answer is obviously Gus Hansen, who arrived at the recent World Series of Backgammon in Cannes, first as a player at the Riviera Cup and later as a commentator at the WSOB final, immediately from the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. Hansen was born in Denmark and currently splits his time between the homeland and Monaco. When he started playing poker in 1997, he was already a famous backgammon pro. Gus also has a rich past as a teenage tennis star. In the present, he prefers to define himself as a "professional gambler". 

Gus Hansen (left) plays backgammon with Falafel (right) on WSOB Riviera Cup 2008

Gus Hansen is not the only backgammon player who also takes part in the professional poker scene. Other well known multidisciplinary players are François Tardieu, Dan Harrington and Paul Magriel. They usually start in backgammon and then move (forward?) to poker, and not the other way around. Maybe because there’s bigger money in poker, or perhaps playing backgammon improves poker skills?  

And now to James Bond on this week’s backgammon quiz. Though recognized with the casino game baccarat, in one of his movies the legendary secret agent played backgammon. Which movie was it? Pick one of the four possible answers and submit your answer and maybe you’ll win the $20 bonus like our previous quiz winners.  

About a year ago, I gave you my top 10 reasons to play backgammon, hoping to convince you to share with me my addiction favorite pastime. Now, supported by greater minds I’m bringing you a few more reasons to play the much loved board game:

"Backgammon is like life—anything can happen at any time. You can be way behind on points and catch a couple of good rolls and win. You can be way ahead and catch a couple of bad rolls and lose.

Unlike chess, rolling dice ensures that there’s plenty of chance in backgammon, and I like working the odds.

Chess people…hardly ever seemed to be enjoying themselves, even when they were winning. I liked winning, but losing didn’t spoil my day, and my slacker attitude annoyed serious players and kept me odd man out, as usual.

Then a buddy of mine taught me backgammon…Backgammon hit my spot.

 (Anthony Peyton, Porter News Review)

"In backgammon, you can play 10 games, not play well, and win. So you think you are great but you have made a great number of mistakes. Tragically, life is closer to backgammon, because you can play a perfect game and lose!

In chess, when you play like an idiot, you always lose, so you learn. Frankly, I think backgammon is a much more interesting game, much harder to learn."

(Christos Papadimitriou of the C. Lester Hogan Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley on Dr. Dobb’s)

- Hieronymus Bosch’s famous image of hell in his painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights" includes a backgammon board. After many tough games, I understand why it’s there."

(Dean Kahn, The Bellingham Herald columnist and a former cribbage player)