Irish (game)

Irish or the Irish Game was an Anglo-Scottish tables game for two players that was popular from the 16th to the mid-18th centuries before being superseded by its derivative, the "faster paced" backgammon. In its day, Irish was "esteemed among the best games at Tables." Its name notwithstanding, Irish was one of the most international forms of tables games, the equivalent of French ''toutes tables'', Italian ''tavole reale'' and Spanish ''todas tablas'',Forgeng, Johnson and Cram (2003), p. 269. the latter name first being used in the 1283 '' El Libro de los Juegos'', a translation of Arabic manuscripts by the Toledo School of Translators.

The name may have been coined to distinguish it from the English Game which was older. There is no evidence that it was particularly linked with Ireland, although it was played there too.

History

''Irish gamyne'' is mentioned as early as 1507 being played by the Scottish king, James IV, and was a game at which he was apparently a "great hand". In 1586, the ''English Courtier and Country Gentleman'' says that "In fowle weather, we send for some honest neighbours, if happely wee bee without wives, alone at home (as seldome we are) and with them we play at Dice and Cards, sorting our selves according to the number of Players, and their skill, some in Ticktacke, some Lurche, some to Irish game, or Dublets." Its popularity in Scotland is reinforced by a poem ''The Game of Irish'' by Sir Robert Ayton written in the early 17th century which opens with the line, "Love's like a game at Irish..." Fiske knows nothing of its origin and surmises that it was given the name because it was unlike the familiar game and "as nobody knew whence it came it might as well be baptized Irish as anything else."Fiske (1905), p. 159. Hyde calls it ''tictac seu trictrac Hibernorum'' without explanation.

By the mid-17th century, it was being challenged by backgammon, although Irish was assessed to be the "more serious and solid game" and "of all games at Tables... the best."Willughby (2003), pp. 123-126 (folios 37-43). In '' The Irish Hudibras'' in 1689, a poetic caricature of the rural Irish, we read that "The priests that lodge upon this Common, Do play at Irish and Bac-Gammon..." thus suggesting that the game was also played in Ireland at the time and that, like backgammon, was a favourite pastime of the clergy.

The earliest rules go back to Francis Willughby's manuscript of English games written c. 1660-1677, and a less detailed account in Charles Cotton's ''The Compleat Gamester'' which was published in 1674 and reprinted until 1750. Fiske says it was "evidently much played in the 17th and 18th centuries." After that, the game of Irish fell into obscurity apart from the term ''aftergame'' which was used figuratively to refer to measures taken after an initial plan had misfired.

Equipment

Irish was played on a standard tables board. Willughby describes a typical board of two halves, hinged in the middle and divided into four 'tables' each of six points upon which the pieces, known as men move. There are 30 men, 15 for each player in a separate colour, usually black and white. Two dice are used and each player has a dice cup.

Rules

The following rules are based on Willughby except where stated.

Starting layout

Cotton (1674) gives two alternative starting setups:Cotton (1674), pp. 154–155.

* First variation. This is the same as ''todas tablas''. Each player begins with all 15 men on the opponent's side of the board: 2 on point 24, 5 on point 19, 3 on point 17 and 5 on point 13.
* Second variation. This is the same as modern backgammon. If the points are numbered from 1 to 12 on the player's side of the board and 13 to 24 on the opponent's side (see diagram), then each player places 5 men on point 6, 3 on point 8, 5 on point 13 and 2 on point 24.

Willughby only describes the second variation.

Aim

The aim is to move all one's men to the home table (points 1 to 6 for Black and 19 to 24 for White) and then be first to bear them all off.

Movement

The direction of march for each player is from the 24 point to the home point ( ace point). Players take turns at rolling two dice. For each die, one man may be moved homewards by the number of points corresponding to that die. Alternatively one man may be moved by the number of points corresponding to the total of both dice, pausing on the intermediate point en route that corresponds to the score on one of them. This is called 'playing at length'.

Players may "play upon any point that has no men upon it" or one that has one or more of their own men. They may also move a man onto a point with only one opposing man, in which case the latter is 'hit' (see below). A point with two or more opposing men on it is blocked and cannot be played upon. To 'play at length', the intermediate point, as well as the destination point, must not be blocked. A player may have any number of men on one point simultaneously.

A player 'takes a point' by moving two men to the same empty point or 'binds a man' when a second man is played to a point already occupied by one of his or her own men. If this is achieved using both dice, it is 'binding at length'.

'Playing at home' or 'playing in one's own tables' means playing men on one's own side of the board.

Hitting a blot

A 'blot' is a single man on a point that is within range of one or more opposing men. It is a 'blot of die' if within 6 or fewer points of an opposing man.

'Hitting a blot' is when a player moves a man onto an opponent's blot. If this is done on an intermediate point it is called 'nipping a man'. When a blot is hit (or nipped), the man is removed from the board and must be re-entered into the opponent's home table by the number of points on a die throw, e.g. if an Ace is thrown, the man must be re-entered onto the opponent's home point (i.e. Ace point or point 1). If the point is occupied by one opposing man, that man is hit; if occupied by 2 opposing men, it is blocked from entering on that point. Men that are off the board having been hit must be re-entered before any board men may be played. If unable to re-enter, the player misses a turn.

Binding up the tables

Players are said to have 'bound up their tables' when they have taken all their first six points (with at least 2 men each). A player must 'break up the tables' if the opponent has men to be re-entered by removing all men bar one from a point and re-entering them as if they had been hit. This is done by both players throwing the dice; the one throwing the highest total on the two dice chooses which point is to be broken.

Bearing off

Once all a player's men have reached the home table, they may be borne off in the usual way. The first to bear off all 15 men wins the game.

Tactics

In Irish, the ''fore game'' or ''foregame'' was the preferred tactic whereby the player, aided by rolling high numbers, played his or her men off the board without having had any of them removed by the opponent. The ''latter game'', also called the ''back game'', ''after game'' or ''aftergame'' was played if a player rolled low numbers at first and was forced to change his plan by, e.g. leaving blots on purpose in order to encourage them to be hit, so they could be re-entered to impede the opponent's progress.

Backgammon comparison

Historical backgammon

Backgammon, in its earliest version, introduced a number of changes to Irish and subsequently ousted it in popularity during the 18th century. The main differences were:

* Doublets were scored double
* The game could be won double if a) the winning throw was a doublet