Backgammon is back! Five of the best places to play

Backgammon – that high-drama, two-player game involving dice, plastic counters and lots of clicks and clacks – has been around in some form or another for 5,000 years and was originally known as ‘the tables’. Today it’s more popular than it has been in decades.

Dua Lipa shares her backgammon holiday snaps on social media and Victoria and Romeo Beckham have been pictured playing on a yacht (using a £14,000 Louis Vuitton board).

The trend remerged in New York, where 20- and 30-somethings networked as they battled against each other in clubs such as the women-only Gals Who Gammon and NYC Backgammon Club. In the UK, gen Z is fuelling the surge – research from E.ON Next found two-thirds (68%) of under-28-year-olds would prefer playing board games to clubbing with their mates.

“The beautiful thing about backgammon is that it teaches you about brain chemistry and dopamine and winning and losing,” says hellraising Australian author DBC Pierre, a man who also credits the game with saving his life.

Best of all, the game is deceptively easy to play: the rules are so straightforward beginners can grasp them within minutes. All of which makes it a perfect team-bonding activity. With board game cafes springing up across the UK, here are five places to get to grips with chess’s cooler cousin…

Backgammon and Wax, various locations

What started as a one-off event on Soho’s Century Club rooftop a year ago has quickly grown into a roaming backgammon club with monthly nights at pubs and clubs. Run by rapper/standup Ben Bailey Smith (aka Doc Brown; he co-starred in the David Brent movie) and podcaster Jeremy Newton (aka Uncle Vibes), its tournaments feature live DJ sets and cash prizes while fans include TV presenter Rick Edwards. Catch them while you can: they’re heading to the Caribbean this summer for a residency at iconic hotel Jamaica Inn.

• Find out more about Backgammon and Wax

Thirsty Meeples, Oxford and Bath

Launched in 2012, this was the UK’s first dedicated board room café. Its Oxford venue stocks 2,700 games – some of which may feel like they require a PhD in quantum mechanics to master (a card game called Short Adventures: Schrödinger's Cat, anyone?). So popular it launched a Bath venue in 2019. 

• Find out more about Thirsty Meeples

Chance & Counters, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Leeds

Tucked away inside Digbeth’s wonderful Custard Factory, this table topping pleasure palace offers more than 700 games. The food is perfect gaming fodder (burgers, loaded fries, wings and “other filth”). Regular events include a weekly ominously-titled ‘Blood on the Clocktower’ social deduction game. There are also two Chance & Counters in Bristol, plus cafes in Cardiff and Leeds.

• Find out more about Chance & Counters 

The Treehouse Board Game Café, Sheffield

Sheffield loves its board games. The city boasts three board game cafes (also check out Gamers Guide Café and The Dice Box) but the Treehouse was the original, having been here since 2017. Today, it boasts over 700 board games. Non-gamers can sit things out with barista-level coffee, milkshakes and craft beers. 

• Find out more about The Treehouse Board Game Café

The Ludoquist!, London

Chances are, there should be at least a couple of backgammon sets among the 1,400 board games on the shelves of this south London gaming nirvana. If not, The Ludoquist!’s resident ‘Games Gurus’ should help with any gaming decision paralysis. With such a vast library, you’re also statistically more likely to find boxes that aren’t sticky from having beers spilled on them or have multiple pieces missing. 

Find out more about The Ludoquist!