Backgammon is not a Board Game

"Backgammon is not only a cool board game"

That's how Hibbum opened his recent post.

"it is also a nice boulder in Cresciano."

He continued and sent me to a journey from Switzerland to Japan through Charlotte, North Carolina in search of things that are not board games yet are named backgammon.

The first thing I learned that Backgammon 7C is one of the toughest challenges a boulderer meets in Cresciano, in the Riviera District of Ticino, the Italian speaking canton of Switzerland, a popular climbing Mecca known for offering ideal bouldering conditions even through the summer (whatever that means).

Backgammon (Frank) is also the stage name of the lead singer, guitarist and The Sammies' co-founder, along with his young brother, whose stage name is not Backgammon but Yale (Donnie). The American garage band, that point REM, Wilco and Pavement as their influences, had released two critically acclaimed albums, a self titled debut in 2006 and Sandwich in 2008.

Backgammon 1, Backgammon 2 and Backgammon 3 are not the different stops of a backgammon tournament but parts of a series of magna art books by the famed Japanese artist Kazuya Minekura. Unlike Minekura other publications, the Backgammon books do not have narratives, but they include selected illustrations of Minekura's previous works (including Saiyuki, Salty Dog and Wild Adapter) presented out of context. Backgammon Remix includes a selection of the selected illustrations appear in the three Backgammon books.