Online backgammon

The other day I was walking through the commons area in between classes and I saw a signup for a new student activity. It is for a backgammon tournament that is going on next weekend across campus to raise money for a children's charity. I have always really enjoyed these types of student activities so I naturally put my name down right away. As I was leaving the table though, I realized that I had never actually played a game of backgammon in my entire life. So that night I got on my computer and figured I would play some online backgammon. I have grown up with computers and so I am part of the generation that believes that we can figure out anything on a computer if we just sit and try it once. I was sorely mistaken this time. I was amazed at first to find out that there are more than one kind of backgammon. So I clicked on the first one which is a style called Acey-Duecy. This game, as its description told, came from the original Roman adaptation of the Middle eastern game which had some similarities. The part of the game that I found to be unique from the other versions that I would play, was when I would roll with the two dice, a two and a one. The computer would say that I have the options of making some combination moves with my pieces and I get an extra roll without my opponent getting one. The next version I played was Moultezem which had a bunch of variations from the first game. First of all, the blots in this game can't be hit, and therefore are not taken back to the bar. Also, none of the other checkers can move, until your first piece makes it past the opponent's ace point which makes it a little bit harder for whoever doesn't roll with a higher advantage. I stayed up all night last night trying out a couple of other version called Tric Trac and Plakoto, which of course have their own little quirks as well. Though I am sure the online backgammon version I have found will be used at the tournament, I still have a lot to learn about the game before I hope to ever win against a good opponent.